Part III of The Ultra Stressed Jedi Students

I enjoy this story so much, and I wanted to
HOOT AND SCREAM at its reaching 1000 posts!!

WHOO HOO!

and more story would be nice, naturally!

aa

 

Aaaahhh . . .

Oh, shoot, guess what? I'll be gone from Thursday afternoon to Sunday night!!! :-(

 

K'vel watched as the door slid shut on his master and her new husband and then he sighed. It was a deep, complicated sigh, full of unexplored emotions. The young man stood there for some time, just staring at the closed door, not thinking, not really even feeling, but just being.

Another sigh seemed to shake him from his trance and he ran a hand through his hair, standing the short strands up on end. K'vel looked around the now silent apartment and wondered briefly why it seemed so much quieter than it ever had before.

His wandering gaze crossed paths with the wall chrono and he noticed that it wasn't too late to go to dinner in the cafeteria. He'd probably already missed Jane, but it beat staying in those empty rooms and making something himself.

K'vel was a horrible cook.

Deciding that it would take too much time to change into something less rumpled, K'vel left the apartment and headed straight to the cafeteria. There wouldn't be many people left, and the Trouble Troop, the group Obi-wan hung out with would be long gone by this hour, but that was fine with him. He wasn't really in the mood for loud company or lighthearted congratulations.

It wasn't like he was the one who had gotten married.

K'vel walked slowly through the line with his tray and took his time making his choices. There was no one to be held up by his snail pace. When he had a reasonable full plate, he turned at looked for a place to sit.


((Jane, you can still be there or not, what ever you want. :] ))

 

Thanks to all those people who helped me overcome my writer's block: thanks to you, I can explain why I was not teaching lightsaber like Jane Jinn said, through Mace Windu, I would be. *sigh*

I'm writing it.

 

Thank goodness he had asked Master Windu to take the classes the last two days so he could learn a bit about the new students each day. He had taken in quite a bit. Both of the students were different, something he was not sure he could have handled without seeing them first, but neither of them were unmanageable. He already knew who to pair them up with.

Cassel Benlar and K'vel would be a perfect match. Cassel would learn from fighting a talented opponent and K'vel would have to keep his emotions in check. Whilst he was glad to have seen Cassel's outburst two days ago in person, he was gladder he had not been in charge that day. Besides having to deal with Benlar, K'vel would have been a problem. Not having the stature of Windu, K'vel might have not kept his emotions in check as well. Mace had given him great responsibility and, coming from a Jedi Councilor, it was an honor K'vel couldn't have denied to lose his temper instead. Coming from Ken, that honor might not have been so great, and the chances of K'vel paying less attention to that and more attention to his anger would have been greater. All in all, Ken was glad it had been Mace out there and not him. That was one newcomer placed.

Sari, on the other hand, should fight Yara. Yara was another aristocrat and, with luck, Ken would be able to see if he was going to have another Caroline or another Sari on his hands. It had been hard to see. He hoped it would be a Sari, unpretentious and not a snob, rather than another Lady Caroline. He had had enough of *that* type of person.

As Ken thought over the classes he had taught, he felt proud. He hadn't let any of his feelings for Ieron influence his teaching, he had kept the class in order, and they had all progressed. Maybe the progress was Ken's imagination, but, then again, maybe not.

He hadn't had a private moment with Ieron since... then... It still seemed like a dream, some fairy story... He couldn't believe that, along with all the Padawans, the Masters had deemed fit to send him a word, reading:

"This is a reminder that Padawans are not to have any physical contact with other Padawans, exchange students or Knights. Physical contact does include, though is not limited to, kissing. Due to the recent flaunting of this rule, punishments will be severer than before until the Council decides on what adjustments, if any, should be made to the rules."

He understood why this note had been sent out, everyone by now had heard the *forbidden* gossip about Obi-Wan and Cali-Ana. What bothered him was that the Council had added "Knight" to the list of ranks of people who Padawans could not come into "physical contact," as the Council had put it, no doubt trying to come up with a term that did not include "sexual," as this would be seen as proof that the gossip about Obi-Wan and Cali was true, and had sent a copy to him. Did they really believe that he would get too carried away with Ieron? He would have to meditate upon the notion to make sure such a thing did not happen.

 

Hi Jane

 

Hi, June!

 

Mmmmmm, could something be brewing between Sari and Obi-Wan?? Perhaps one of those deep friendships that turns into more?

Just wishfully thinking. Though I would suspect that he'd shy away from anything that halfway resembled love, I do feel that he would deeply connect with someone friend-wise would could relate.

Sari might just have that kind of personality.

Oh for the dance class, here's an idea! TALENT SHOW. I can soooo see Obi-Wan wearing the fedora, nice shirt, slacks, and suspenders swing dancing with someone. Doing all the tricks and flips and such. Ahhhh that's fun!

Keep it up! I LOVE this story!!!

 

I don't know, Jane thought to herself as she moved her spoon around her bowl, expertly catching the last remains, why everybody makes such a big deal about Yoda's gruel. You'd think it was poisoned, the way they go on. So they don't like it, so what. Nobody ever complains about that salad from Kashyyk, the one that Wookies seem to like so much and yet it tastes like tree bark. If you can chew your way through a bowl of that, you certainly don't need a toothbrush in the evenings.

Toothbrush. The word reminded her of Qui-Gon, and the time she'd been out shopping and had realised she wasn't going to get back to the Temple until after curfew. She'd hastily bought three toothbrushes, all because Obi-Wan had once threatened her that she'd be cleaning the cafeteria with hers for breaking rules like that. Qui-Gon had gently cleared up that misunderstanding.

Everything reminded her of Qui-Gon to-day. She hadn't thought she would miss him this much, but at supper, she'd unexpectedly found herself reaching for a serving of Yoda's gruel, all because she remembered a remark he'd once made about sending her to the diminutive green Master for Padawan and Student Exchange Day. "You already like his gruel, so that shouldn't be a problem." Eating it now, she found herself getting all maudlin about her ex-master.

I'm being stupid, Jane told herself. I've always found it hard to adapt to new places and new people. I just need a few days, that's all. To-morrow afternoon, it will be better.

Tearing herself away from her thoughts, Jane glanced up and saw that K'vel had just come out of the food line and was standing there with his tray in his hands, looking around for a place to sit. There were lots of places, of course. Almost everyone had gone. Before he could pick some out-of-the way corner, Jane jumped up and waved, sending a burst of the Force over to him in lieu of calling his name through the cafeteria. He turned his gaze to meet hers and smiled that endearing lop-sided smile that she'd hoped to see.

"Well?"Jane asked after he'd come over and sat down across from her.

K'vel nodded."They're gone. Three days off-planet."

"And you're on your own?"

He nodded again.

"Is the silence deafening?"she asked.

Startled, he glanced up, then smiled."How'd you know?"

"It was the same for me when I moved in with Perrian,"she said.

"But Perrian was there with you, wasn't he?"

"Yes, but Obi-Wan wasn't. It was strange, just the two of us,"Jane reminisced."I'm still getting used to it. Guess what happened to me to-day?"

K'vel raised his eyebrows.

"After dance, I wanted to go home. I took out my datapad to make sure I got the number absolutely right, but after I'd put it in three times, the door still didn't open."

"Was it the right number?"K'vel asked.

"Oh, yes,"Jane replied."It was the wrong door. I was trying to get in to Qui-Gon's apartment!"

 

Iffy post award for me!!!!!

****

There was a knock at the door and Kithera opened it sleepily. The party and the wedding had taken it's toll and all Kithera had been doing while Sari was out was curling up in front of the holo-vid in ther pyjamas. She popped the last bit of timtam in her mouth and uncurled to answer the door. Qui-gon stood outlined in the door light, his eyebrows raised as he took in her green flannellette pyjamas and her unkept hair.

"Hi." Kithera grinned shyly and then giggled as Qui-gon brought his hand out from behind his back to reveal a little box of chocolates.

"They are a make-up present." He said,

"Thanks." Kithera said, giggling she grabbed the chocolates and shut the door in Qui-gon's face and then just as quickly opened it.

"Are you comming in or what?" Kithera asked smiling.

"Well, with a reception like that I don't think I should." Qui-gon said trying to sound hurt. he turned to go and Kithera grabbed his hand making him turn. Her smile turned suddenly shy.

"I'm sorry too. I have a bottle of wine in my fridge if you like."
Qui-gon nodded and Kithera bounced away to get the wine. She had remembered what Kirstan had told her about being responisble but as far as Kithera figured this might as well be her night off. Quickly she grabbed two glasses and joined Qui-gon back on the couch, the Jedi Master was flipping through stations on the holo.

He put one hand around her shoulders and Kithera wriggled into his arms. The taller Jedi leaned down to kiss her on top of her head and then leaned further down to kiss her on the lips. When they broke away Kithera grinned.

"You know what is better then a first kiss?" she asked, "The first kiss after you make up."

***

There was a beep at the door and then it slid open to reveal a confused looking Sari.

"I'm sorry I must have the wrong apartment." Sari said apologising, with a start Kithera realized that the girl could probably only see Qui-gon. Kithera poked her head around the taller Jedi.

"Oh hi." Kithera said brightly, "You haven't got the wrong apartment Sari, Qui-gon and I were talking that was all."

"Uh huh." Sari said sounding unconvinced, "Maybe I should go to bed, leave you two alone so that you can...um...chat."

"It is alright, I was leaving now anyway." Qui-gon said kissing Kithera on the forehead and standing up. The small knight followed him to his feet and then across to the door.

"Don't eat all the chocolate at once." he scolded Kithera quietly.

"Like I could after you scoffed it all, you big greedy guts." Kithera admonished giggling.

"Goodnight Kitten."

"Goodnight Qui-baby."

"I thought you and Master Jinn didn't have a 'thing' going." Sari said as soon as the door was shut.

"We don't." Kithera said cleaning up the wine glasses.

"Let me see: Pet names, wine, chocolate, kisses....that all amounts to a 'thing' in my books." Sari said determined to make her point known.

"So how was your day?" Kithera asked changing the subject.

"It was alright. Back to Master Jinn..." Sari said smiling.

"You look tired." Kithera said with a wave of her hand, the knight smiled as Sari yawned. "Maybe you should go to bed."

"Maybe I...Goodnight Kithera." Sari said yawning some more.

"Goodnight." Kithera said unable to stop her giggles. She ushered Sari into her room and then left. Kithera smiled sleepily at the thought of Qui-gon. At least things were back to normal, well almost back to normal. It was a start and that was all that mattered.

 

"Oh, how sweet. You will post more,"said Jane with a wave of her hand. Kithera stopped in mid-yawn and headed for the computer again.

 

A small bit from me.
***********

Lina had woken up, expecting the day to be better than it had been before. Master Leona had come home to find her and Cassel talking to each other amicably enough. Look on her face had been priceless.

But it was like yesterday never happened. The Cassel who had been nice enough to tell her somethings about her homeplanet was now gone and replaced with his unpleasant evil twin again. Any efforts she made to talk to him was answered by his usual grunts or one word replies. When Cassel left for his first class, Lina was happy to know she wouldn't see him again until lightsaber class.

*What the Sith is wrong with that guy?*

To her surprise and some annoyance, Cassel's complete attitude change didn't seem to bother her Master. She just sent Cassel on his way and told him to behave himself.

Lina had some time before her class and decided to help out Leona on some backed up reports from the healer's wing. After about an hour of filling in data pads, Lina stretched her fingers.

"Master?"

"Mmmm?"

"Do you know what Andali is?"

Leona continued to stare at the report in her hand. "Yes, why?" she asked absently.

"Just curious. Cassel was telling me about it. The tatoo thing and all and well....I dunno. I just noticed I didn't have one" Lina finished. She didn't really know where she was taking this conversation. This shouldn't have been any interest to her. She was a Jedi after all. The prospect of having to get married at 21 was ridiculous.

"No" Leona agreed. "You do not have an Andali."

"Well, I was taken from Palamede pretty early and I expect there wasn't enough time to really-"

"No, you misunderstand me, padawan." Leona's light eyes peered at Lina from the top of the data pad. "You do not have an Andali. The Temple priests didn't find one for you."

"What?"

"A ceremony was done when you reached 6 months but there was no Andali in your celestial reading."

Lina tried to keep her face neutral. She felt something strange stirring inside her at Leona's words. "But...I thought all Palamedians had an Andali. That's what Cassel told me."

"It was a strange case. It was one of the reasons why your parents felt it was fate that you enter the Temple" Leona answered. She turned her attention back to the data pad. Lina tried not to notice her nonchalant attitude.

"So....I don't have a soulmate?"

"Well, I don't know about that, Lina. I heard you argue with Cassel yourself that the stars cannot possibly determine who your soulmate is."

"Yeah...right." The matter seemed more or less dropped. Lina turned her gaze to the data pad in front of her. It was true. It was silly to think the stars found you your soulmate. Lina found it rather ridiculous that an entire planet got married under such traditions.

 

This post carries on from the one Kresa was kind enough to include me in Hope it's okay...

****


Yara breathed a sigh of relief as she heard Caroline Bingle?s footsteps echoing down the corridor, thankfully going in the opposite direction from her own. She turned to the small red haired girl beside her and smiled gratefully. ?I can hurry,? she said, ?no problem. I?ve been running around this place like a headless nerf for the past fifteen minutes anyway.?

The girl grinned as she made her way hurriedly in the direction of her classroom. Yara was having problems keeping up, despite the girl?s odd shuffling pace. ?I was just wondering, since you already seem to know my name, what?s yours??

?Kresa Rei?de. Do you remember seeing my master at all??

Yara thought for a moment. She didn?t recognise Kresa, but she recollected vaguely a Wookiee attending one of her parents? dreaded dinner parties. ?I think I do, but I never really paid much attention at those functions. I just saw them as a chance to scare all the old people with my ?I hate the world, come any closer and I?ll kill you? look.?

The girl laughed. Eventually the pair came to a door, which Yara assumed must be the Intergalactic History classroom. Before they went in, she stopped Kresa.

?Please don?t call me ?Lady Yara?,? she smiled. ?You make me sound like some stuffy aristocrat. I?m just Yara Sikari.?

Kresa looked slightly puzzled at this, but returned the smile. ?Okay,? she agreed, and made her way inside.

Yara realised that, in her relief to be rid of Lady Caroline, she had forgotten to be rude. After all this time, it felt strange. Oh well, she thought cheerfully. Too late for that now. Just as long as * he* doesn?t find out about it.

She stepped into the classroom. Kresa was in the process of being reprimanded by a rather stern looking Jedi Master, and Yara felt a bit guilty. She hoped it wasn?t her fault that they were late. She watched as the girl moved to a seat, and the Master motioned for Yara to come toward him.

?You must be the new student,? he said. ?At least you have an excuse for being late. We can?t expect you to be familiar with the geography of the building when you have only been here a few hours.? He flicked through a small pile of papers on his desk. ?Yara Yassah, is it?? he asked.

She felt herself go cold, but when she answered her voice was level. ?It?s Sikari. Yara Sikari.?

To her immense relief, the Master only shrugged. ?Very well, Student Sikari. You may go, find yourself a seat."

For a second, she felt nervousness rush over her as she gazed at the sea of faces around the classroom. Then her attention was caught by Kresa, who was indicating to an empty seat beside her. Without wasting any time, Yara moved through across the room toward it and sat down, whispering her thanks to the girl beside her. And the thanks were genuine- at her old school, nobody had offered her a seat unless they had stuck gum on it. Unless your favourite pastime was blowing things up, you were bound to be an outcast at Coppergate. But Yara had added to that, by refusing to even try to socialise with any of the other students there. It had been difficult to go without friends, but she had managed this long. It was nice to have someone again, however. And this was only temporary anyway, she was just an exchange student. It would be okay for now. As long as *he * didn?t find out. Yara smiled at herself, and watched as the master began the lesson, something about the beginnings of the Hyperspace Wars. It didn?t look particularly interesting, but it had to be better than analyzing yet another dusty old battle in anal detail, like the rest of her class at Coppergate would be doing right now. Maybe her stay here really *wasn?t * going to be bad after all. Maybe.

 

Just a little Obi (yeah, I'm obsessed with torturing the poor guy's heart . . . It's just so fun!)

*************************

Obi-Wan glanced up as the door opened, surprised to see his Master practically skip into the apartment. There was still a smile in his eyes and to his Padawan's even greater surprise, he was whistling. "I take it she liked the chocolates," Obi-Wan said.

Qui-Gon paused, looking closely at Obi-Wan. "I didn't tell you about the chocolates, Padawan." He hadn't wanted to give an detail about romance, Force knew how he would take it.

Obi-Wan shrugged. "So, I picked your mind. Besides, hiding chocolates behind your back was a pretty good clue." He paused, then smiled weakly. "I'm happy things are working out for you two."

"I'm sorry, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon sighed. He came into the living room where Obi-wan was sitting. "What have you been doing?"

"Thinking, meditating, staring at the smudge on the wall." His tone made it difficult for Qui-Gon to tell if he was joking or very serious.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Oh, how I ruined everyone's fun," Obi-Wan shrugged casually. "The Temple notice basically confirmed everyone's suspicion. The good thing is, maybe they'll stop asking."

Qui-Gon sat down beside his Padawan, not appreciating the sarcasm dripping from Obi-Wan's mouth. Someone had made the comment to him that his Padawan didn't seem effected at all by the punishment. It had taken all of Qui-Gon's training not to deck the Twi'lek. How could anyone possibly think Obi-Wan wasn't suffering? The young man had gone through more in his young life than possibly half the Masters. His entire life had been struggles. Numerous times he had almost lost his chance to be a Jedi, and all because of his passionate heart.

"It is not all your fault," Qui-Gon said quietly. "There have been several incidents in the past of . . . sexual behavior. It is natural. The Council is in dispute over the restrictions. The Knights aren't happy at the moment. It isn't a secret that young Knights are a bit more . . . active. There have been incidents were a Padawan and Knight have broken the rules. Severeal between Padawans, actually. I wasn't fully aware of it, but apparently it isn't such an unusual thing." He patted Obi-Wan's shoulder. "I just think you shocked the Sith hells out of them, that's all."

A corner of Obi-Wan's mouth turned up in a half-hearted smile. "I seem to do that, don't I?"

"It's the only way to approach them, Padawan. Er, just not the way you did." Qui-Gon smiled fondly at Obi-Wan. "Maybe there is a little of me in you yet."

Obi-Wan laughed and suddenly hugged his Master. "I feel sorry for the Council, then."

 

Uh...it's another lightsaber class scene. Hope it can flow with everything else.
***************

There was a curious sound emmerging from the lightsaber class room as Lina approached. It sounded like.....mooing? Lina pushed the door open to find half the male padawans mooing at Cassel, who seemed to not really care. He was leaning against a wall looking like he was rather used to the treatment.

"You know, for Jedi you're awfully unoriginal" Cassel stated with a bored expression on his face. "You're about 10 years too late with the mooing. Half the class on Palamede wore that out."

Surprisingly, that seemed to dampen the rest of the padawan's fun in teasing Cassel.

"Guess what Master Leona told me today." Lina walked up to Cassel who was finding the empty air in front of him very interesting. "The Temple priests didn't find an Andali for me. They said I didn't have one. Isn't that strange?"

Cassel looked at her. "What's your point?" His voice conveyed an irritation that confused Lina. *What was his problem?*

"Nothing" she answered. "But don't you think its wierd that I didn't get an Andali? I mean, has that ever happened before?"

The other boy snorted and stared off again. "Well, I can imagine one Palamedian male who's breathing a sigh of relief" he replied in the nastiest tone of voice Lina had ever heard.

"What's the matter with you?" demanded Lina.

"Right now, you. Does it even look like I have a remote interest in the fact that you're destined to not have a soulmate?" he retorted.

Before Lina could respond, Ken-Biu entered the room and clapped his hands for the students attention. Lina marched quickly to the side, holding back the urge to kick the wall.

*Fine. If he wanted to be a loathsome creep than that was his choice.* she fumed. Cassel's words however, seemed to effect Lina more than she would have liked. *It's a stupid ceremony that means nothing! Just because some old priests didn't see it in their lousy stars doesn't mean anything!*

"Lina and Sifa, mat 5" Ken announced. "Padawan Kenobi will referee."

Lina walked over and picked up the practice lightsaber. From the corner of her eye she could see that K'vel and Cassel had been matched.

*Good. Kick his sorry butt, K'vel* Lina urged. She was suddenly very regretful that she wasn't paired with Cassel. *I'd show his sithly self just what it means to be humiliated, Jedi Code be damned! Who's he to-*

"Uh, Lina?"

"What?" she snapped.

"Are you ready?" Obi-Wan asked, giving her a puzzled look.

"Yeah...sorry" she mumbled and raised her weapon. Almost a minute into her sparring, an outburst occured.

"Pick up your weapon!"

All the padawans stopped and stared at K'vel and Cassel. The taller padawan was fuming with frustration for Cassel to pick up his fallen lightsaber. Cassel only examined his hands with mild interest, ignoring K'vel completely.

"Come on, Cassel! Just continue" K'vel said. He was looking more and more irritated as Cassel just continued to ignore him.

"Is there a problem?" Ken-Biu walked up to the mat. His expression suggested he was expecting attitude like this from Cassel. "Why are you not sparring Student Benlar?"

"Why should I?" A couple of the padawans murmured some shocked sentiments.

"Student Benlar, pick up your weapon or else spar without a weapon. Your choice."

"I choose to stand here and do nothing" Cassel shot back.

"This is your last warning, Benlar. Pick up your lightsaber and fight."

"He's at it again!" Sifa whispered to Lina.

"Fine" Cassel replied. With surprising swiftness, he grabbed the fallen weapon, spun around and hit Ken-Biu in the back of the legs, causing the instructor to fall. "Better?" he asked.

There was not a single sound in the entire room. All students stared wide-eyed at Cassel who merely smirked into Ken-Biu's enraged face. Ken slowly got up and took the lightsaber from Cassel's hands.

"Padawan Kaelston. Watch the class, please" he said with controlled anger. "Student Benlar, you will come with me."

Cassel, complied and eve

 

When Leona had returned from the wedding reception, she was almost positive to either find Lina and Cassel ignoring each other or killing each other. Hearing their loud voices, Leona had assumed her latter guess was happening. But upon entering the room, she saw Lina and Cassel sipping tea and having a friendly arguement.

Her shocked open-mouth expression had not been lost on either student.

But today, Cassel was back to his usual self. Sullen, practically mute, and rude. Leona guessed this might happen.

"The boy is a nightmare!" Mace stated as he and Leona sat in her office.

"Your own fault for taking him on, Mace. Don't complain to me." Leona hid her grin. "For my part, I'm growing rather fond of the boy." Mace gave her an incredulous look. "I'm serious. He's tempermental to say the least but he's not a bad person."

Mace regarded her for a minute. "You remember what the Council told you?"

"Yes, and I haven't broken my promise" Leona answered stiffly.

"Good. We will tell them when-"

"Mace" Leona interruped. "Just a few minutes ago, I was really enjoying talking to you. My good humor could still be salvaged only if we not discuss this" she warned the Jedi.

"Master Leona?"

The healer looked up to see Ken-Biu with Cassel in tow. She listened patiently as Ken explained what happened.

"Student Benlar, do you care to explain yourself?" Mace demanded.

Cassel gave a lazy stare and said, "No."

"You realize this is your second offense, Student Benlar. Continous disregard of the rules can result in your expulsion" warned Mace. "Just because your father is Govenor of Palamede does not give you the right to disrespect the laws of this Temple."

"Mace, please leave Cassel to me" Leona ordered. "Thank you for bringing him Ken. I'll deal with him."

Both men shuffled out, Mace giving one last look at Leona who ignored it.

"Is this going to be a routine thing now, Cassel?" she asked.

He shrugged. "What are you going to make me do?"

"First, Cassel, I want you to tell me why knocked Ken off his feet."

"He said he wanted me to fight."

"That is not what he meant and you know it."

"I guess I didn't know" replied Cassel. His grey eyes locked on to Leona's blue ones, almost as a challenge. "Are you going to call my father now?"

It flickered for just a second. But Leona caught it. A look of pleading behind Cassel's eyes. Almost begging her to call.

"No."

"Fine, so what's the punishment this time?" Cassel looked disgusted.

Leona looked at him thoughtfully. "I am taking you out of that class. Instead of lightsaber practice, you will come here and spent that time in here helping me."

"THAT'S the punishment?" The teenager looked like he didn't believe her.

Leona nodded. "Entire hour, Cassel. Don't think its easy because it isn't. Just ask Lina."

Cassel shifted in his seat. "Fine" he muttered.

 

K'vel laughed softly with Jane. While he'd never done anything like that, he now understood perfectly well how such a thing could happen. They sat together in making casual small talk as K'vel finished his meal.

"Jane," K'vel hesitated, unsure if he was being too forward, but the prospect of returning to that empty, echoing apartment by himself wasn't one he was looking forward to. "Umm, would you mind coming over and studying with me?"

Suddenly he remembered the 'notice' that the Council had sent around. "Or if your master isn't comfortable with that we could go to your place instead," he quickly suggested.

 

Okay, Lina you've got me hooked. What does Leona NOT want Mace to talk about??? More soon!

 

Well, its a mix of Mace not wanting Leona to talk about some things and Leona not wanting Mace to remind her that she's under oath not to talk about things.
Basically, the Council is being a pain in Leona's neck.

Amidolee, are you gone till Sunday? Does this mean no Sari posts for a bit? Darn.

 

((Hmm, for some strange reason, I can no longer see the post I am replying to at the bottom of the reply page. Very inconvenient!))


Kresa twisted side to side to see around the padawan in front of her, but try as she might, she just couldn't see the board where the teacher was drawing. There were certainly disadvantages to being the youngest and smallest person in the class.

Normally, Kresa would take notes on what the teacher was saying and just wait until class was over and copy down everything from the board after everyone had left, then race through the hallways to her next class. But she'd already been late twice today and didn't particularly feel like doing it again. Unfortunately, short of standing up and moving to a seat at the front of the class, there was nothing she could do to change the situation.

Spotting an unexpected opportunity, Kresa wrote a note quickly at the top of her flimsy, then lifted it up and tilted it so that Yara could read it easily.

*Will you let me copy the picture from you? I can't see the board.*

Yara's first instinct was to retreat to her habitual rudeness, but something in the younger girl's trusting, open expression made that impossible. Instead she tipped her own flimsy up so that Kresa could see the small map she had drawn there and the arrows indicating the actions each of the armies had taken. That much had been easy enough for her to draw after all that practice at Coppergate, she thought bitterly.

*Thanks!* Kresa wrote again, after she had glanced at the picture enough that she was confident she could recreate it in her own notes.

When class was over, Kresa stood and waited for Yara to collect her things. "What's your next class? Maybe I can point you in the right direction so that you don't get lost again," the young girl suggested.

 

I'll post now, but I don't know if I'll get another chance or not. Yeah, mesa happy because the URL on my site is working now.

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Moments like these always reminded Sari of old holo-dramas. The two sworn enemies facing off, their eyes meeting in a silent, hard stare. The moment lasts until enternity. Then something snaps them and they attack, shoot each other down . . .

Of course, there were no blasters in the Temple and the awkward moment passed. When Sari had brought her tray up to the table, she set it down in the same spot as before. Kenobi looked at her, then scooted over, switching spots with Ane. The Padawan had darted another look, then had began studying his plate. Everyone had the table had quieted and Sari still felt her face flushing. What had she done to him? Besides run into him on accident?

Sari scowled and sat in her seat, shooting Kenobi a quizzical look. Sheesh, Jedi could be very touchy.

"Having fun?" Ane asked cheerfully.

Sari shrugged. "Aside from getting lost, yeah, I'm liking it." She forked some food into her mouth, chewed, swallowed. "And now I know what *not* to eat!"

Ane laughed, taking bites out of his own food. The chatter around the table was directed as sympathy towards someone named Lina. Sifa made a comment about the Temple Notice, which Bant presumedly knocked her on the back of the head. The conversation died, and almost everyone looked over at Kenobi. Sari frowned, wondering what everyone's problem was. Kenobi ignored them and ate his food.

Sari out her tray up, then caught up to Bant. "Hey, Bant," she greeted.

"Hi, Sari."

"Can I ask you something?"

Sure."

"What's got everyone moody and secretive?"

Bant frowned. "We're not suppose to talk about. One of the rules was violated and it's got everyone in a stir."

//That doesn't help// Sari thought. "Can I ask you another question?"

"Sure."

"Okay, you know that Oba-Bo Kenobi guy?" Sari asked. Bant snorted. "what?"

"It's Obi-Wan, not Oba-Bo!" Then Bant grew serious. "What do you want to know?"

Man, something must be really wrong with him, Sari thought. "Well, why is he acting so . . .unsocial? I accidently ran into him the other day and he screamed and took off running. And then at lunch he moved away so he wouldn't be sitting by me."

Bant sighed and glanced around at the passing people. "I'm sure it's nothing personal. Obi-Wan's had a rough time of it. His girlfriend of sorts used to sit in that seat, and her hair was red, so I guess you're a thorn in his side."

"Well, I couldn't help it!" Sari protested, stuck between sympathy and irritation. She tugged at a stray curl. It wasn't like she had meant to have reddish hair and sit in his girl's spot. No one had told her not to sit there.

"Bant."

Both females turned to the angry tone. Obi-Wan was waiting off to the side, obviously upset about something. Bant's eyes flickered back to Sari, then back to the Padawan. //Another awkward moment in the life of a princess// Sari thought wryly. He looked pretty ticked off, at her or Bant, she couldn't tell.

"Um, see you later, Sari," Bant said, giving Obi-Wan a dubious look.

"Okay. Bye, Bant." Sari darting another look at the Padawan. He shot her a dark look, then began speaking quietly to Bant. Eager to get away, Sari walked as fast as her feet could carry her. Now she had reminded some guy of his ex, ticked him off with out doing anything, and probably would end up being more of a hazard.

 

Wow, this thread is long, isn't it??

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"What did you say to her?" Obi-Wan demanded.

"I explained to her briefly why you were being so rude," Bant said calmly.

Obi-Wan glared at his old time friend. he couldn't explain why he was so angry. Possibly because the new student seemed to suddenly fill Cali's shoes; red hair, running into him, sitting in her chair. He wasn't ready to deal with anything like that.

"Deal with what?" Bant asked. "I know it's hard, Obi-Wan, and I couldn't possibly understand, but that is no reason to be rude."

//Sith, why does she have to sound like an adult?// Obi-Wan chewed on the inside of his cheek. "It . . . it just scared me. Running into her and all. That's how *she* and I met. Deju vu, ya know?"

Bant sighed and put an arm around his waist, unable to reach his shoulders. "You're pathetic, Obi-Wan, you really are. Things will die down soon and everyone will forget. You may not, but you'll come to terms with what happened."

"I have," Obi-Wan grumbled. "Just not very well."

"Time, my friend, time will heal."

"And if not?"

"You won't be invited to any parties," Bant teased. Obi-Wan smirked and then they both laughed.

 

*Gods, you'd think we were in a war!*

Cassel stacked the last of the data pads that held the reports of all the patients in the last month. The pile was impressive. The Palamedian didn't think that even during wartime would patient stack up so high. Glancing at his chrono, he realized that his next class was in 5 minutes.

*Intergalactic Medical Studies. Great. I've got that class with Lina.*

Cassel felt a slightly uncomfortable wave of anxiety hit him. He tried to figure out exactly what it was.

*Guilt, you fool.You feel guilty.* A voice explained to him with a tone of disapproval. And indeed he did feel guilty. He didn't feel bad about K'vel, it wasn't like he embarrased or hurt him or anything. Ken-Biu...well, he could never stand authority figures to begin with. But Lina....okay, that was what he felt bad about. He shouldn't have teased her like that about not having an Andali. He wasn't blind to the hurt look that had come over her face.

*Momentary slip. Doesn't really matter. You're not planning on staying here that long are you?* A second voice asked.

That's right. He wasn't planning on staying at this Temple. Cassel pushed back his thoughts about Lina. It didn't matter. Give it a week or so and none of it would really matter.
+++++++++

Lina had 10 minutes to get to her next class. She had only 5 to grab something to eat. The burst of chattering voices struck her ear as she entered the dining room. Running past a large table, she heard Sifa call out to her,
"Hey, Lina! Come over and sit down!" she invited. A quick glance over her shoulder and Lina saw Sifa sitting with Ane and Meri who were all giving her different degrees of sympathetic looks.

*Great. Thank you, Sifa.*

"I can't! I've got class in five minutes" she called. Grabbing a piece of fruit, she dashed back towards the door, giving the table a wave goodbye....and crashed into someone.

Luckily for Bant, Obi-Wan caught her before the force of impact with Lina slammed her into the ground.

"Sorry, Bant!" Lina apologized. She then noticed who she was with. "Uh...sorry, Obi-Wan. About lightsaber class. I didn't mean to run out like that."

She could hear Obi-Wan saying something after her as she sprinted down the hallway but ignored it.

*Well, this is a change. Now I'm avoiding Obi-Wan. At least Master Leona will be happy.*

 

"We'd better ask Perrian what he thinks,"Jane said."I don't want to get into trouble, even by accident."

She frowned at the memory of Ane's thrashing, then stood up. After putting their trays away, she and K'vel walked to her new quarters. Perrian was watching the news, but switched the holo off when he saw both of them together.

"Um, master,"Jane began,"K'vel has invited me to come back to his quarters and study with him, but he's all alone there now that his master is off on her honeymoon. May I go, or would you prefer K'vel to come here and study?"

Perrian looked from Jane to K'vel and back again, then said,"K'vel had better come here. It's not that I don't trust you, Jane, or you, K'vel. But in light of what's been happening lately, it's best not to take any chances. If something did happen, the Council could see it as partly my fault for not supervising you properly."

"All right, Master Thenceor, I'll just get my things and be right back,"K'vel said.

When he'd gone, Perrian grinned at Jane."Master Thenceor. I could get used to that."

Jane smiled, too, then asked,"Master--this note that the Council sent out. It said there shouldn't be any touching between Padawans. Does that mean we're not allowed to, you know, just hold hands or give someone's shoulders a friendly squeeze? And if someone gets hurt, do we have to levitate them to the infirmary instead of just carrying them?"

Perrian shook his head."No. In my opinion, the Council should have been more specific and said that kissing and sexual touches are prohibited. Normal everyday contact between two people is still allowed."

"And--um--rubbing noses?"Jane asked. To her relief, Perrian laughed."Hoth kissing? Are you and K'vel thinking of preventing frostbite that way?"

"No! I just wanted to know, that's all."Jane had in fact been thinking of Ane, and Qui-Gon's reaction to seeing them kneeling in the cafeteria with their noses pressed together. He hadn't said it was forbidden, but he had certainly discouraged them from doing it again.

"I would be very careful with that if I were you,"Perrian warned."In fact, to be on the safe side, I would advise you to avoid it altogether. One thing can lead to another, you know."

"I know,"Jane replied. The door buzzer sounded then, and Jane got up to answer it. When she saw K'vel, she realized with a sense of relief that he just didn't look like the kind of boy who would rub noses with her and then pretend that he'd slipped, just to get a kiss in. Instead, he looked honest and completely dependable. She smiled."Come on in. Shall we study here in the living room, master, or in the kitchen?"

"Make yourselves comfortable here,"Perrian invited.

K'vel took a seat on the couch while Jane got her backpack from the bedroom and slipped into the easy chair opposite him."What kind of assignments do you have to complete?"

 

Uh...this is after the Intergalatic Medical Studies class. Let's all assume that Cassel managed to get through that one without doing anything.
******************

Lina walked down the corridors towards her quarters, ignoring the random stares people were shooting at her. They glanced at her and then automatically skipped over to the tall glum figure that was trailing after her a few feet behind.

It could either look like Cassel was stalking her rather badly or that they were taking the Council's notice to avoid contact between padawans a bit too seriously.

Lina had sat in her usual seat near the front of the room during her class while Cassel had sat the way back. She had not looked at him and he had ignored her. But now as they were going in the same direction, they still remained the same position as before. Her in front, him in back.

*This must look so ridiculous!*

Punching in the code, Lina practically ran into their quarters. She almost made a dash for her room when she remembered that Cassel now lived there. Having nowhere else to go, she stomped into the kitchen and pretended to look for something. She heard, rather than see Cassel trudge off into his room.

"Looking for something, Lina?" The padawan looked up at Leona's voice.

"Uh, no Master...I was just....nevermind." She shut the fridge.

"Is something wrong, padawan?"

"Other than the fact that Govenor Benlar and his wife ever procreated? No" answered Lina in a bitter tone. She couldn't help it. "20 or 30 minutes in the corner, Master?"

"I'm not sending you to the corner. I want to know what's wrong. There must be something else other than Cassel's birth" Leona gave her a smile. Lina sighed.

"I don't know what's wrong. I just feel....bothered or irritated with everything right now."

"Are you upset about what I told you earlier? About your Andali ceremony?"

Could that really be what was bothering her? How ridiculous! In the middle of what was happening now Lina thought the last thing she should think about was the issue of soulmates and marriage.

"There is nothing wrong with being curious about your ancestor's traditions, Lina."

"It just feels strange to me, that's all. I mean, how come I don't have an Andali?" The question left Lina's lips before she even knew she had formed the thought in her head.

"I don't know. There is a reason for everything."

"What's the reason for me being destined not to have a soulmate?" She unwittingly repeated Cassel's earlier comment.

Leona drew her arm around Lina's shoulders and guided her on to the couch.

"The future is always in motion, padawan. Just because the Temple priests were unable to match you then does not mean there isn't someone out there for you. When you are ready, you will find out soon enough."

Lina looked up at Leona and smiled.

"I must look idiotic getting worked up over this."

"No, Lina. No one embraces the idea of being alone. Your feelings are natural" Leona fondly ruffled Lina's short hair.

"Well, since I don't get it as easy as the rest of my people, I guess I'll just have to be more watchful in finding my soulmate" joked Lina as she moved to get her data pads to start her work.

She didn't see the frown that formed on Leona's face after Lina had disappeared around the corner.