Part III of The Ultra Stressed Jedi Students

Still letting everyone know I'm reading along . . . and cursing my sithspawn writer's block. *siiiiiiigh* Oh well. At least there's good things to read.

 

Oh, how very cool...I just noticed I'm finally a Jedi KNIGHT!!! (insert happy dance here) (singing) H-A-P-P-Y, I am, H-A-P-P-Y, I am...

Kit', check your e-mail, because I could use some help with what comes next... Thanks!

- Rani

------

There is no guilt of the past, only lessons learned for tomorrow. There is no vengeance, only forgiveness?

As Rani meditated, allowing the Force to carry away the buried and denied emotions of weeks past, she heard the faint sound of buzzing somewhere in the distance, and wondered briefly what kind of insect was flying nearby in the Room of a Thousand Waterfalls.

There is no anger, only peace. There is no fear, only hope?

The padawan revelled in the feeling of the weight and darkness of her burden being eased from her. The insect seemed to be calling her name. As her concentration divided to her surroundings, Rani recalled she wasn't in the Room of a Thousand Waterfalls. She was in her room, and the buzzing?

Light defeats darkness, justice resolves wrongdoing?

Someone was at her door. The Council's messenger so soon? How long had she been meditating? Why did it have to be now, of all moments? She pulled slowly out of her meditation, reaching for the presence outside her door?

Discipline overcomes?

Kithera.

Rani pulled back from the Knight outside her door. She didn't want to deal with her right now. Later maybe, but right now?

"Rani?" she heard Kit's muffled voice through the door, "I'm sorry for my behaviour this morning. It was childish and I hurt you by not letting you handle the council alone. I'm sorry Rani. I really am."

Hurt me? Rani shielded her confusion, wondering what Kit meant. Certainly the Knight had gone too far with the Council that morning, and Kit's smugness had angered and embarrassed her, but hurt? Rani glanced at her chrono, and realized she'd been meditating for three hours. I must be more out of practice than I thought, losing track of time like some initiate? she scolded herself, realizing that passive healing trances were no substitute for active focus and meditation on the Force. She shook the last remnants of haziness from the meditation off, and then suddenly remembered Kithera outside.

"Oh sith, Rani, Please answer the door. I just wanted to apologize and let you know that I took all the blame in front of the council. Please, Rani, please."

Rani's eyes grew wide in alarm. If Kit had confessed? //Did you keep T'lor's name out of it?// she sent quickly. It hadn't been the first thing she had wanted to acknowledge Kithera with, but if T'lor was implicated now, and it affected her Trials... Rani pushed the thought away.

"Yes." came the verbal reply. Rani released the breath she'd been holding and silently thanked the Force.

"Rani, Can we still be friends? Can you forgive me for acting like a stupid child?" Kit's voice begged. The Knight was crying.

Oh, Kit...

//Only if you stop apologizing like one.// Rani sent her in a teasing tone, accompanied by a gentle nudge through the Force. //Lighten up, it's okay. Now, quit yelling at my door and talk to me with thoughts, otherwise the neighbours will start wondering about us?// Rani sat down in her hoverchair and moved towards the door. This is getting to be a habit. she mused to herself.

-----

More to come...

 

Geez, for the students, it's day of the cafeteria scrubbers! I mean, we got: Jane, Cali, Obi, Meri, Insei and who knows who else on the team? You could create a starfighter squadron from that many people! Dangit, I want Insei to get a saber ASAP. Don't ask me why. Maybe even lightsais. Or a light nunchuku. Yeah, I'm going insane!

 

I'm still in the cafeteria, too, Insei. Remember Jai's little . . . uh. . . temper problem?

 

Hmm.. wouldn't if there were that many students scrubbing, it'd actually be a little fun for them? I mean, there's, um, *counts on hands* six or so students doing it. I mean, the cafeteria would be sparkling clean in no time at all (probably a minute or two if Insei can find somemore droids *remember the infirmary cleaning?*). Maybe K'vel will take Insei to Master Yoda for discipline instead.
*boot to top*

 

Jane reached the cafeteria at the same time as K'vel and another young man, who was shorter and leaner than Kirstan's Padawan.

"Jane,"said K'vel seriously."This is Insei Katsuo. Insei, this is Jane Jinn. She's also an exchange student. And Jane, he'll be scrubbing to-day, too."

Jane couldn't help smiling."Just to-day?"

"Yes, just to-day,"K'vel replied.

"I've still got almost a week of scrubbing ahead of me,"Jane said."What did you do wrong?"

Over to you, Jedi Master Insei. Hey, if there are so many people there, we could put all the tables and chairs in the hall, divide up the cafeteria into sections, and have a scrubbing race!

 

Yeah, dude! A race! (Hey, is Jane still single )

 

<That's a cool idea, Jane. Anybody else up for it?>

 

Um, yes, Jane is still single, but remember: Once burned, twice shy.

 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Geneva,Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jane Jinn:
Um, yes, Jane is still single, but remember: Once burned, twice shy.


But wasn't she twice burned? Poor Jane!

I had thought about throwing in a just-for-fun character that everyone could pick on. You know, one of those fun-to-dislike-easy-target types. But there are so many new characters running around now that I'm a bit reluctant. What do you all think?

 

Hmm, although not "datingly" burned, Insei's really been burned, so he's actually kinda shy, too. I was thinking that maybe they could get together a bit. Insei could share why the Force powers weren't really detected on him that much before and whatever. Plus, I think he's lonely and needs a friend who's not going to grab him by the ear and make him scrub the floors.

Maybe Obi and the rest of the crew could refrain from "volunteering" to scrub the floor until Insei and Jane are done talking.

[This message has been edited by Jedi_Master_Insei (edited 05-09-2000).]

 

Insei didn't say anything at first, and after a moment, Jane said,"Well, it can't have been that bad, if you only got one day of scrubbing."

"What are you scrubbing for?"Insei asked, turning the question around.

Jane frowned."Well, let me think. I've been in trouble so often since I've come here, it's all starting to get blurred in my memory. I think I've spent more time standing in the corner than I have doing almost anything else. But--this must have been for leaving the Temple without permission and coming back after curfew. Two weeks of scrubbing. So come on, Insei, help me stack the tables and chairs against that wall there, and you can tell me your awful secret while we work."

 

As they were stacking the tables and chairs away, Jane tried to ask Insei the question again. "So, what did you get sent here for?"

Insei took a deep sigh before responding to Jane's question, "Well, if you seriously want to know? I drenched the entire initiate meditation group?"

Jane's face broke open with a huge grin, "That wasn't that bad. And, if you ask me, the little buggers deserved it."

"With the Dark Side," Insei's face was serious. He had opened himself to the anger and hate of the moment, and now he had already begun to walk down the path.

Jinn took a deep breath before responding, "Oh my goodness! I thought you were just an exchange student here! Another regular high-schooler!"

"I thought I was too, until I set off all these things using the Force. I guess the other Jedi didn't know it, either. I think I remember that I used the Force when I was a kid, but something made me stop using it."

"Well, what was it?" Jane tried to pry. This Insei was actually a pretty curious person.

"I don't really like to talk about it, but, well, you seem pretty trustworthy. I think I can count on you to keep it under wraps." Insei replied, "It was back in elementary school. I liked to keep to myself, and the kids ridiculed me for it. They said I was gonna grow up to be a loner. So, if I remember correctly, I pretended there was this bubble, that no one could get into unless I wanted them, surrounding me. I guess that it was actually a product of the Force, because whenever any of the bullies tried to pick on me, they'd shy away, like I was bad or something. Then, one day I was playing by myself with my toy fighters, and I guess that I forgot to put up my "shield," because this one bully, Zenith or something, snuck up on me and caught me by surprise. He almost put his fist in my face, and then I remembered the shield that I was pretending about. All of a sudden, Zenith was screaming in pain. Something about his arm on fire, even though it wasn't. It must have been the shield. I found out later that day that Zenith had died from the 'fire' on his arm. I guess my shield did it."

Jane nodded in uneasy silence?

-----
Okay, Jane, if you want to add any more onto this, you can (nudge nudge ) Otherwise, Obi , Jai, and the gang I think are going to "volunteer their services" soon for the cafeteria.
'Ladies and Gentlemen, start your brushes!'

[This message has been edited by Jedi_Master_Insei (edited 05-09-2000).]

 

"I didn't know I had the Force until I came here,"said Jane slowly."It's probably a good thing, too. I could have--I could have done something like--like what you did."

Insei gave her a curious look as they reached for another table."You?"

"I was always different, always the odd one out,"Jane recounted."The other kids at school used to tease me a lot. I learned to ignore it, eventually, but there were so many times that I felt so hurt, and so angry at them, that I would have done anything to make them stop. If I'd known I had the Force, I might even have reached out to the Dark Side..."

She shivered, glad that she hadn't had the option.

Insei nodded."So you know what it's like."

"Yeah."She gave a short smile."I know what it's like."

She paused, then added,"It all just petered out after a while. The teasing got less and less, and eventually we just ignored each other. I even starting feeling happy sometimes...not afraid anymore. Sometimes they'd even speak to me as though I was one of them. Well, once or twice, anyway. And then I came here."

"And what happened here?"

"I found out that people can be nice. No. That's wrong. I found out that I was, what's the right word? That I was likeable. And then I discovered that I really was Force-sensitive after all, and now my master is helping me learn to use it. I haven't had any experiences with the Dark Side, yet."

"Be grateful,"said Insei.

"I am. I really am grateful. Qui-Gon's even going to ask the Council if I can stay here longer than just this term, so that I can learn more about using the Force. I really want to stay here. I don't ever want to go leave. I'd be afraid of going over to the Dark Side, if I had to go back to that kind of life again."Jane hadn't realised she felt that way until she said the words, but it was true nonetheless.

There was a silence, a pleasant silence filled with understanding, and then Jane almost slipped on something on the floor, and the moment was broken. Glancing down, she grimaced."Oh, yuck."

"What is it?"

"Jello, pudding, and noodles in sauce. In other words, a mess. Almost like a food fight, but smaller, thank goodness. Ugh, I'm glad I haven't had to clean up after a food fight in here yet."Jane recognised the location of the table, and said,"This is where some of my friends usually sit. I'll bet they started teasing each other again."

As they moved the table back to the wall with the others, she said,"It's not very Jedi-like to want revenge, but I can't help wanting--just a little bit--to get back at them for messing up the floor when I have to clean it."

"Maybe you don't have to,"said Insei, motioning towards the door with his head."They look like they're ready to do it for you."

Jane looked over and saw Meri, Cali, and Obi-Wan coming in, each equipped with a bucket of water and a large brush. A moment later, Jai also appeared in the door, breathing heavily as though she'd been running.

"Oh, good, I'm not late,"she gasped."I'll just get my stuff and be right with you."

"It won't take long to do the cafeteria if there are six of us,"Jane said."This should happen to me every day!"

"Sorry, Jane, one time only,"said Obi-Wan.

"It's because of the mess we made,"Meri put in.

"I thought I recognised your tracks,"Jane grinned, then glanced around."Hey, you know what? It'd be fun if we put all the tables and chairs out in the hall, divided up the cafeteria into six lanes, and had a scrubbing race!"

"Great idea, Jane!"Gesturing towards the mess, Cali said mischievously,"Obi-Wan could get that lane."

"Hey, I didn't start it,"Obi-Wan said, glaring at her and Meri alternately."Meri should have that section."

"We could draw lots,"Insei volunteered."I've got a program on my data pad that imitates the roll of a dice. I can change it so that each number comes up once, and then we could all choose one."

"That sounds fair,"Jane nodded. Stacking three chairs on top of each other, she struggled towards the door."Come on, let's get this stuff out of the way."

 

K'vel stood patiently out in the hallway, and kept his hearing attuned to the voices within. Yes, having Insei scrub the floor with Jane had been Force-inspired. He now had someone he could talk to and not feel threatened by. The young man would not have opened up this way to K'vel or Master Kirstan.

The big padawan still felt a bit strange filtering people's words through their emotions, but he was getting used to it. No doubt Master Kirstan had counted on this very thing happening. She had been trying to get him to open up more for several years now and she was still the only one he would contact mentally.

When Obi-wan, Cali, Meri and Jai passed him on their way in he smiled at them all and raised a humorous eyebrow at the buckets they carried. K'vel hadn't meant for Insei to have quite that easy a time cleaning the floor, but maybe he could make a couple more friends in the mean time. K'vel had almost never had to scrub floors, but he was very familiar with most every corner in the Temple. Bumping into Knights and Masters because he hadn't sensed them coming was still a fairly common occurance and K'vel knew his master was becoming worried that he would never open up properly.

He waited calmly as the scrubbers drew their lots. He was tempted to retreat to the gardens for a short while, but the thought had hardly registered before he squashed it. He was not going to leave Insei unsupervised anywhere the techno-happy young man might find trouble to get into.

 

It turned out that Obi-Wan did get stuck with the messy lane. Cali gave him a triumphant look and a sweet smile. "It's only natural that the strongest and bravest get the hardest tasks."

"Is that suppose to make me feel better?" Obi-Wan grumbled as he carried his bucket and brush towards his lane.

Cali laughed and picked up her own bucket, giving him a playful nudge with the Force. A moment later, she felt his response, at her ankles. She tripped and tried to step out of the pull, but he anticipated her move. She stumbled and the bucket went flying--

--straight into Insei, drowning the student in soapy water.

"Oh, Sith! I'm sorry!" Cali cried, picking her brush back up and whirling on Obi-Wan. "Look what you did!"

"I didn't do anything!" Obi-Wan protested. "How was I to know you would throw the bucket at him?"

Cali was about to respond in an angry series of insults, but then her eyes fell on the Padawan's bucket. She picked it up. "I guess I'll have to use yours," she said, hefting the weight up. "Oh, and Obi-Wan? You missed a spot." She tipped the bucket up and dumped it over him.

 

Having soapy water soak his clothes ticked Insei off a bit, but he didn?t want to use the Dark Side again. // Stay calm. Breathe deep.// Within seconds the anger washed off him, although the suds did not. Seeing Cali dump the bucket on Obi-Wan?s head gave Insei an idea. Picking up his own bucket, he looked over to where Jai, Meri, and Jane were all neck and neck. ?Hey, girls! THINK FAST!? He shouted as he launched the full bucket right into the three girls? path, too close for them to avoid the slick suds.
-----
Hehe. Hey, wait, when's this free day going to be over? I want to have Insei have an interesting dream...

 

I know there's a post around here!!

 

Hang on, Insei, it's almost dinner time.

 

I say after we finish this sud war that we end the day and move on! I have this idea that won't work unless we move on.

***********

Cali leapt out of Obi-Wan's way as the Padawan tried to put his arms around her, which meant soaking her. Then three shrill shrieks startled her. Insei was hurling a bucket of water at Jane, Meri, and Jai. The girls slipped and fell into a pile, their own buckets flying and spilling suds all over them and the floor.

She started to laugh, but then two arms wrapped themselves around her and squeezed hard, lifting her off the ground. "Obi-Wan Kenobi!" Cali shrieked. She kicked at the air. She was soaked and he was laughing.

"Insei!" Jane shouted, a hint of anger in her voice. "That was NOT funny!"

"I agree--" Meri began to say as she stood up, but then she fell again.

"I thought it was!" Obi-Wan chimed in, still holding Cali in his clutches.

"You better re-think that, Piggy," Meri taunted. "If I--umf-- get over there --ow-- I will personally see to it that the least of your worries is wet pants."

"And I will insist her in that threat," Cali grunted, trying to squirm away from the wet Padawan. Obi-Wan just laughed and sat her down. Cali called for her scrubber and it flew to her hands. She knocked him promptly on the head.

Jane had somehow gotten to her feet. Meri and Jai were crawling on the floor, trying to escape the wet spots. If only she had her camera! No one would believe her if she told them that she had seen Jedi crawling on their hands and knees, soaking in suds.

She turned to Insei, who must have been new because she hadn't seen him before. "Nice trick there," she said in a friendly voice. "Sorry about the whole bucket thing."

"You made up for it when you soaked him," Insei smiled back, glancing behind her at Obi-Wan.

"That was the plan," Cali said cheerfully. "Of course, even if I hadn't soaked you, I still would have soaked Piggy."

"You're too sweet," Obi-Wan growled.

"Why thank you!"

The other girls made it over to them, all looking like very angry Jedi Padawans. Insei looked a little nervous. "Jedi to not avenge!"

"I'm not a Jedi," Jane said wickedly.


******

wanna take over for a bit??

 

Jai's teeth pulled back in a predatory smirk. "Weeelllll . . . . we JEDI may not be able to take revenge ourselves . . . but surely we can help someone who's been wronged? Huh, Obi-Wan?"

Blue eyes scowled at her in mock disgust. "I don't know, your the one who's Master wrote the code."

"And your the one with the Master who BREAKS the code. Ready, girls?" Four heads nodded in unison--and suddenly both Obi-wan and Insei were hanging upside-down above two soapy, sudsy buckets of water. Jane flashed a quick smile at Jai, concentrating to control the power Yoda's Padawan was channeling through her. Meri was doing the same with Cali, making the two non-jedi girls twice as powerful.

Suddenly, the door to the cafeteria burst open, and K'vel, Master Kirstan, Master Jinn, and Master Yoda walked in.
***********
Hehehe---anyone else want to have fun with this?

 

Actually, I think this would be a perfect[/] ending spot (partially cause it adds some suspense, and it'd be a good reference to my next post, which requires the day to end). I want Insei to have a cool dream (don't worry, it's not about Jane, unless you want it to be about her at the beginning ), which requires him to be asleep rolleyes.gif .

 

Okay, this is my attempt at working through writer's block. Hope this doesn't hurt anyone's long term ideas.

Ieron grunted and rolled over, surprised to find herself in a bed. Opening her eyes, she frowned, realizing she was back in the infirmary. The shadows on the walls told of the day almost gone. With a sigh, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, even more shocked to realize that the bed on the other side of the room was occupied by a groaning Knight who looked vaguely familiar. He was groaning in his sleep and smelled strongly of alcohol. Drifting away from the odoriferous roommate, Ieron couldn?t help but wonder what happened after she was confined to the infirmary.

Peering out of her door, the dusty-haired padawan was relieved to see that An-Paj and his gaggle of overbearing healers were nowhere to be seen. Deciding that she had spent too long in the worst section of the Temple, she slipped out unnoticed.

Making a quick stop at her room, Ieron was once again surprised to find her master absent from their shared apartments. She changed into her normal attire, feeling more comfortable in her tabard and leggings. Bored with the long hours of solitary confinement, Ieron went off in search of her friends.

She wandered into the Room of the Thousand Waterfalls, and found Ane deep in meditation. Ieron watched her friend for a few moments, but decided not to disturb him since he looked so serious. Something was obviously bothering him. She sighed, wondering if that had any connection to the alcohol-soaked Knight from the infirmary.

The dusty-haired padawan drifted to the living quarters. Ken-Biu?s room was marked by a warden standing outside the door. She couldn?t steel herself to talk to him, but it was plainly obvious that no visitors would be allowed. Reality hit her rather hard. The Council would inevitably talk to her, alone, and question her about Knight Maol.

Running a hand through her long hair, Ieron wandered back away from the living quarters. The sound of laughter drifted down the hall, then was sharply cut off. Curious, Ieron walked quietly to the cafeteria. She could see Master Kirsten, Master Jinn, Master Yoda, and a padawan she knew from some of her classes named K?vel. Beyond them, she could see Obi-Wan and some other boy she didn?t recognize suspended over two soapy buckets and Meri, Cali, Jai, and Jane all looking rather guilty. Ieron chuckled quietly; she had been in on enough scrapes to know this was the worst part.

Master Jinn turned halfway and Ieron suddenly found herself on the receiving end of a dark look. ?Do you find something humorous, Padawan Counc?? Ieron gulped, realizing she was suddenly in the same boat as the rest.

 

K'vel heard the gigling and splashing going on, but decided against putting a stop to it. It's not like he was a Knight or a Master to step in and reprimand other padawans anyway. As long as they got the floor clean before people started arriving for dinner, he didn't really care how much of it was play and how much work.

Until the masters came trooping down the hallway.

K'vel bowed low to Master Yoda and bowed his head to Master Jinn, a shy-ish smile and a nod were all his master required of him in informal situations.

"In a corner again, are you, Apprentice Kaelson?" Yoda asked in his gravelly voice.

"No, Master Yoda. I am merely waiting for Insei Katsuo, Master Lien's exchange student to finish scrubbing the floors for dinner."

"Then see his progress we should," Yoda replied and shuffled into the cafeteria, his gimmer stick tapping with each step, before K'vel could muster an excuse to stall them for the moment he could have used to warn the others. That being now impossible, he marshalled his thoughts sternly and commanded his face to remain blank and calm.

He also prayed silently into the Force that he wouldn't get blamed, again, for something he could not have prevented. After all, Obi-wan had been in there!

 

*lmao* Cute stuff!! I especially liked the ice down the pants trick!

. . . although I can bet money that Obi-Wan didn't.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Geneva,Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>A famous woman (comedian, Margaret Cho) once said . . .
". . . and when you get cold water right in *that* area, everything gooooeeesssss UP in the treehouse! It's gone!!

But what about the sparring scene? MUCH potential for some good angst between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, seeing as how he's still feeling insecure about his and Jane's standing with Qui-Gon. (Personally, I don't blame him. I mean, I love Jane to death, but training two at once can lead to Sith-like emotions, thus why the Code's strict on only having one Padawan.) But this is great stuff!!