The Promise

Six months after his return from Bella, Zak still struggles to overcome the insecurities caused by his experiences there, while Anakin, his family and his own apprentice, Ferri, travel to Tatooine. While Anakin's children become acquainted with the Lars family, Anakin and Ferri make an attempt to bring Tatooine into the Republic...

Chapter 1 – Challenge or Overreach?

The chamber was dimly lit and silent but for the buzz of remote probe droids, the labored breathing of the young man who stood crouched on a beam several meters above the chamber floor and the hum of the young man's weapon. The beam on which the young man perched connected two doorways to each other; one open, the other closed. The only other entrance to the chamber was the closed doorway on the chamber floor. Deactivated remotes, twenty in all, littered the floor; evidence of the young man's success so far. But his struggle was not over; five probes remained preventing him from reaching the open doorway. And these probes now moved to surround him, but he anticipated this and swung his weapon around taking out the nearest one while leaping up to avoid the fire of the other four, landing back on the narrow beam with practiced ease. The disabled probe fell to the floor several meters below adding to the number of other disabled probes.

The surviving probes moved out of his range, maintaining their distance from each other; a strategic move that would make it difficult for him to continue to defend himself. He sighed, chancing a glance toward his goal, the now-tantalizingly-near open doorway; if he could reach that doorway... Two of the probes attacked again, one to his right, the other behind him, but he once more anticipated their move, flipping to avoid the one behind him and deflecting the fire of the other back successfully deactivating it and sending it to the floor below. Immediately, the survivors shifted again, still out of range, one now facing him, blocking his forward progress and the other two flanking him; all three far enough apart that he could not watch one without taking his eyes off the other two. A moment of frustration distracted him, allowing the probe on his left an easy shot at his ankle which he barely avoided by hopping up. With a cry of irritation and a look of determination, he resumed his defensive crouch holding his weapon before him.

Changing tactics, the probes then engaged in active, intense aggression, firing randomly; but after the near-hit, the young man did not allow himself to become distracted again. After several minutes, the probes ended the unsuccessful attack, giving their opponent a moment to breath, as they shifted positions - the probe to his left moving behind him, the forward one moving to take the position vacated by that one and the right probe moving in front of him. This move, the young man knew, was to force him to flip backwards in order to prevent the probe behind him from attacking his back; and that would cause him to lose some of the ground he had already gained to reach the open doorway. If successful, the probes would then repeat the move, effectively forcing him back toward the closed doorway; a direction he did not wish to go.

--

Several meters above the narrow beam, his presence shielded from the boy by a false wall, another man, this one older, observed the young man's progress. He had, in fact, been watching for some time as the young man strategically took out the remotes; reducing the original number of twenty-five to the remaining five. Crossing his arms and rubbing his beard he continued to observe the boy as he struck and disabled one attacking droid and deflected the shot of another back to deactivate it too, reducing the number of surviving remotes to three. Perhaps the boy would succeed, perhaps not; in either case, his performance thus far was impressive.

"He appears to be doing quite well." Another man stated as he came to stand by the first.

"So far, yes." The first agreed.

"But he has yet to face the most difficult element." The other stated.

The first man sighed, "Yes, I know." He answered.

--

The young man's decision was made; he was not ready to retreat or to concede defeat. Instead of flipping back, he leaped forward to attack the probe in front of him. The probe did not anticipate this move and fired in defense, but was promptly deactivated when the young man deflected the shot back at it. Only two probes remained now, but these two had avoided disablement thus far by learning from the mistakes of the others and the boy knew they would now be the most difficult to beat. The probe behind him fired, but again, with practiced ease, he hopped to avoid it as the other surviving droid fired, aiming high; a shot he avoided by ducking once more into his defensive crouch as he landed back on the beam. Again the probe behind him fired, but he twisted, moving his weapon before him to deflect the shot away from him. This probe managed to avoid the deflected shot by rising and moving to the left, firing again simultaneously with its partner. Both shots missed as the young man flipped out of the way, smiling as he did so; this last flip had brought him closer to open doorway. When the probes moved once more to attack, he was already waiting, deflecting several shots before they ended their barrage.

Tentatively, he took a step forward, prompting the remotes to resume firing. But there were only two now, and he had little trouble defending himself against this latest onslaught. For a moment, he allowed himself to think that he had finally won; but then his comlink beeped, distracting him so that the next shot found its mark, striking him in the thigh. Fighting to regain his balance distracted him further and a second shot hit him in the back forcing him further off-balance. He struggled to keep himself from falling, but a third shot, this one to his right hand caused him to lose his grip on his weapon and it was lost amongst the probes on the floor below. He had just barely managed to regain his balance but was now defenseless against the fourth shot; this one hitting him in the side sending him off the beam. He reached out in hopes of getting a grasp on the beam, but missed and landed hard; the floor itself was padded, but the disabled probes were not. His head struck one, his right knee another and his right arm a third. As he lay stunned, the surviving probes took advantage, buzzing down to floor level. Instinctively, he curled into a defensive position, "End program, end program!" He shouted. Immediately, the probes retreated upward above the beam, hovering harmlessly, awaiting further instructions.

As he lay there gathering his thoughts the lights came up and the floor-level door slid open, officially ending the session. His comlink beeped again and he sat up, rubbed the back of his head with one hand and reached for the comlink with the other, "Zak?" A familiar voice prompted.

The young man sighed, "Yes, Master." He responded.

"Are you alright?" The voice asked.

"Yes, Master." Zak replied, unenthusiastically as he moved from rubbing the back of his head to massaging his knee.

"You did very well, Padawan." The Master continued.

"You were watching me." Zak answered in reply.

"Yes." The Master admitted.

"Then you should have noticed that I failed." Zak replied.

"Clean yourself up and we will talk about it." The master instructed.

Zak sighed again, "Yes, Master." He repeated again.

--

Obi-Wan Kenobi shook his head and smiled as he ended the transmission, then watched as his apprentice pulled himself up with a grunt and called his weapon to him, then straightened his tunic before heading toward the now-open doorway, limping slightly and rubbing his right arm.

The other man moved and placed a hand on his shoulder, "That exercise was above his age level; I have never liked the notion of allowing younger apprentices to attempt sims designed for older ones." He said and then nodded toward the floor, "And that is precisely the reason why."

Obi-Wan shook his head again as he turned to face the speaker, "I see no reason why age should prevent a talented Padawan from challenging himself." He argued.

Mace Windu sighed, "To a certain extent, I agree, however, there is a fine line between challenge and overreaching." He countered, then held a hand up before Obi-Wan could interrupt, "Zak chose an exercise that was too advanced." The Horunn Master hesitated for a moment, weighing his next words. "I believe your Padawan was overreaching."

There was silence between them for a few moments before Obi-Wan broke it, "Am I expecting more of him than I should?" He questioned.

Mace smiled and shook his head, "No, my friend." He assured his fellow Jedi, "I think perhaps he is expecting too much of himself."

Obi-Wan stroked his beard and sighed, "If that is so, then I must blame myself." He decided.

"I fail to understand why." Mace countered, "You have always expected no more from your students than they are capable of giving." Then rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "This may have more to do with your first Padawan's talent than your expectations."

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan replied and then shook his head, "I have never compared Zak to Anakin; in fact, I've made it very clear that he was not to compare himself with Anakin."

"I am sure you have; but it is only natural for him to want to measure up to Anakin's accomplishments." Mace explained as he patted Obi-Wan on the back, "He would not be the first one to do it, less that a week ago Ferri Cortis was injured during one of these advanced sessions."

Again Obi-Wan stroked his beard in thought, "You may be right." He conceded, "But when other Padawans his age are attempting them, I find it difficult to find a good reason to discourage him."

"Well, you should find a way, Obi-Wan; not only could he have been seriously injured, but he believes now that he has failed the exercise. It has taken him so long to rebuild his confidence after his experiences on Bella; failing that test could cause him to lose what he has worked so hard to regain." Mace told him.

"I will not let that happen." Obi-Wan assured him.

"I know you will not." Mace said with a nod and then quickly shifted the subject, "Now, I know the floor is padded, but the probes are not. As it is, he struck his head and he is limping; it might be a good idea to have the healers look him over."

"As you wish, Master Windu; even though I am sure Zak will not think it necessary." Obi-Wan answered.

"I am sure he will not." Mace replied with a smile and then turned serious, "You know that Anakin is also concerned about this 'overreaching'. He believes it would be wise to place age restrictions on these advanced exercises." Mace continued.

Obi-Wan nodded, "Yes, I know; he has mentioned this to me." He concurred.

"Did he also tell you that I agree with him?" Mace wondered.

"Yes, he mentioned that as well." Obi-Wan replied and then bowed, "And now, if you will excuse me..."

"Of course."

--

The changing area and shower room adjacent to the training rooms was thankfully deserted when Zak entered; he had no desire to discuss his failure against the practice remotes with anyone. He stripped down and showered quickly, but was surprised when he sensed his master enter the changing area before he had even finished rinsing himself off. Wiping himself dry, he wrapped a dry towel around his waist before returning to the changing area to retrieve his fresh clothing.

"I'm sorry, Master; I didn't realize I had taken that long." Zak said as he gathered his clean clothes.

"You fell hard; Master Windu..." Obi-Wan started.

"Master Windu?" Zak cut him off and then sighed and looked down at the floor, "So he saw my failure too."

"Master Windu is concerned that you were injured and would like the healers to have a look at you." Obi-Wan finished.

"But he saw..." Zak continued.

"He saw the twenty or so remotes littering the floor of the training room; he saw you take out two remotes one after the other using a different tact for each. He saw you struggle to remain on that beam after being struck three times and losing your weapon." Obi-Wan argued.

"My comlink beeped and I lost my focus." Zak admitted.

"I know; it was part of the exercise." Obi-Wan replied.

Zak raised his eyes to look at his master, "I failed." He said.

"Zak, that exercise was far above your age or skill level..." Obi-Wan began.

"I'm not the only one my age to take that test." Zak protested.

"I am aware of that; but that does not mean they were ready to." Obi-Wan countered.

"I thought I was." Zak replied.

"Apparently, you weren't. Look, Padawan, these exercises are meant to guide those who take them." Obi-Wan corrected.
"Guide?" Zak questioned.

"Yes, to point to any weaknesses in training, so that they can work on strengthening them." Obi-Wan explained, "You must not use them as a standard to measure your worth as a Jedi. Do not allow this small thing to tear down was has taken you so long to build back up."

"Small thing? I was beaten by two droids." Zak said.

Obi-Wan sighed, "And why was that?" He asked.

Zak held Obi-Wan's gaze for a moment, "Because I lost my focus." He admitted, shifting his gaze to the floor.

"Exactly." Obi-Wan concurred, "And so what have learned?"

"That losing focus is a weakness that I need to work on." Zak answered with the conceding sigh.

"Yes; so you see, by 'failing', you have learned something." Obi-Wan explained, "But had you been older and more experienced, you probably would not have failed. In any case, you were actually very successful; there are very few apprentices your age who could have lasted as long as you did. Even Master Windu was impressed."

"Well, I would have been more impressed with myself if I hadn't allowed myself to be distracted." Zak said and then turned toward the shower room, "I'll be right back."

"I will wait; and then we will go to the healers' quarters." Obi-Wan decided.

Zak shook his head, but smiled, "Alright, if it will make you feel better." He acquiesced.

--

"What did you fall on?" Declan asked as he examined the dark bruise on Zak's arm.

"A remote...well, several of them." Zak revealed.

Declan let out a disapproving sound as he shook his head, "Fortunately, you haven't done any permanent damage; this bruise is deep but should clear up in a week or so. Your knee is swollen, though, so I want you to rest it for at least a couple of days before you go dancing on beams again. And you're lucky you have such a thick skull." He said and then shook his head again, "Next time don't push so hard."

"Yes, Master Declan." Zak deferred, slipping carefully off the table.

Declan shook his head again as he watched the senior Padawan leave the room before following him out, "Well?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Nothing serious; I've told him no more beam dancing for a few days." Declan answered.

"Two days; you said two." Zak corrected.

"I said at least two days; it depends on that knee." Declan reminded him.

"Yes, Masterhealer; at least two days." Zak conceded.

"Provided you are going to your quarters and not back to the training rooms, you may go." Declan replied sternly.

"To my quarters; yes, Masterhealer." Zak answered.

Obi-Wan patted him on the back, "I will see you at the evening meal, Padawan." He said.

"Yes, Master." Zak repeated and then looked knowingly at the two masters, "And now you're going to talk about this between the two of you."

"Yes." Declan concurred.

Obi-Wan regarded the masterhealer with curiosity, "Apparently." He interjected.

Zak nodded, "I'll leave you to it, then." He replied without protest and exited the quarters.

"After all this time, that still amazes me." Declan said after the apprentice had gone.

"What amazes you?" Obi-Wan asked and then smiled, "Oh you mean him always knowing when you're holding back; I've gotten so used to it that I hardly ever notice anymore."

"It's uncanny; you can't hide anything from him." Declan added.

"Not easily." Obi-Wan agreed and narrowed his eyes, "So what are you hiding from him? What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong; except the reason why he fell." Declan answered.

"There was an element of distraction included in the program." Obi-Wan told him.

Declan shook his head, "That may be true, but don't you think the difficulty level of that program was too high?" He questioned.

"It was an advanced program, yes." Obi-Wan revealed.

"In the past...oh, two years or so, I've treated more than a few apprentices, just like Zak, who were injured while attempting practice sessions far above their level of apprenticeship." Declan told him.

"But I think we all did that when we were his age." Obi-Wan answered.

"I'm not going to pretend that a little overreaching has always happened; but I think this goes a bit farther than that." Declan replied.

"Oh dear." Obi-Wan murmured.

"You know what I'm talking about, then." Declan guessed.

"I believe so." Obi-Wan prompted.

Declan nodded, "Whenever an incident like this happens, I always look into the reason why. Partly to be sure there is not fault in the sim program itself but mostly to alert their masters in hopes that they will help curb their over-ambitiousness. But a curious pattern has emerged." He began, "The majority of them were attempting exercises that Anakin had mastered at a level much lower than the level they were intended for."

"And you believe Zak was attempting one of those programs." Obi-Wan surmised.

"Was he?" Declan questioned.

Obi-Wan hesitated, sighed and then nodded, "Yes." He admitted.

"I thought so; Ferri was also injured attempting one of Anakin's old exercises. Now Anakin thinks it would be better to restrict the younger apprentices from using any of those advanced sims ." Declan revealed.

"I know. He plans discussing that with the Council." Obi-Wan confirmed with a nod.

"Well, I hope he does it soon; I am weary of treating these unnecessary injuries." Delcan replied.

"He is leaving for Tatooine with Ferri and his family later today, but I believe he will present it to the Council when he returns. And I am sure Master Windu will back him up; he has not been happy about these incidents either." Obi-Wan said.

"Good." Declan answered, "Just out of curiosity, how old were you when you attempted the exercise Zak chose?"

"Nineteen." Obi-Wan answered without hesitation, "But I didn't pass it until I was twenty."

"Does Zak know that?" Declan asked.

"Not to my knowledge." Obi-Wan admitted.

"Perhaps he should." Declan suggested.

Well, after several requests to continue this series, I was finally persuaded to honor those requests. Here's the thing though, the reason I suspended writing in the first place was because of an apparent lack of interest. So...in order to continue this story(and write any further stories), I'm going to need reviews, otherwise there's really no reason for me to finish it! In any case, this was the first chapter, hopefully, it won't be the last!