"Master Jaa," said crèche master Min, bowing to the tall Iktotchi woman who was standing on his senior crèche's doorstep. "I haven't seen you in a long time. I hope you are well?"

"Oh, yes, I'm fine," said Jedi Master Fenya Jaa, smiling at him. "I've been on a mission to Jarqueet for nearly a year. Now that I'm back and got my mission debriefing and post-mission check-up over with, I'm free for as much as two whole days."

The crèche master's dark eyes twinkled with amusement.

"Ah yes, the joys of life as a field knight," he remarked. "Free days. We rarely have them here. I assume you've come to see Eeth?"

"I have," said Fenya. "Is he free?"

"He has a free period until dinnertime now", replied Min. "I have no idea where he's spending it, though. Most initiates are currently in the garden, but he often keeps to himself."

"I know," Fenya said a little wistfully. For a moment, the image of a skinny four-year-old Zabrak boy appeared before her inner eye. He was sitting behind a trash can in a Nar Shaddaa alleyway, alone, hidden from the view of most passers-by, looking at her with sharp, wary eyes. She shook herself briefly to get rid of the mental picture and went off in search of initiate Eeth Koth.

She first looked into his room, knowing that Eeth spent much time studying, a lot more than he was required to. The immaculately tidy and completely impersonal room was empty, though. Fenya continued towards the gym, knowing that Eeth spent at least as much time working out as he spent studying - again, a lot more than he was required to. The crèche gym and the smaller practice rooms attached to it held a number of initiates, but Eeth was not among them. Finally, she proceeded to the gardens.

As she made for the door, a girl whom she recognised as a member of Eeth's clan came in from the playground, politely holding the door open for her.

"Thank you, initiate," Fenya said. "Do you happen to know whether Eeth Koth is outside?"

"I think so, master," the girl replied respectfully. "I've seen him head to the garden of silence when the free period started. He might be meditating."

That last bit sounded just a tad disdainfully, and Fenya was wondering about that briefly, but she did not comment. Instead, she merely nodded briefly in acknowledgement and went outside. She crossed the large garden with the playground and lawn where most of Eeth's clan were currently playing vossball. Hidden behind a copse of trees was a smaller garden that was named "garden of silence". It was soundproofed by an invisible barrier and was meant for initiates who sought to meditate or study silently.

It was in the hindmost corner of that garden, nearly hidden from view by a couple of blossoming trumpet flower bushes, that she found Eeth, kneeling on the soft moss and meditating with his eyes closed. He noticed her approach almost instantly, however, and resurfaced from his trance, opening his eyes.

"Master Jaa," he said respectfully, rising smoothly from his kneeling position and bowing a tad more deeply than the average initiate would have done.

"Initiate Eeth," she replied solemnly, returning the bow. She had never known a child who liked his formalities as much as Eeth, and that was after having trained two padawans already.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything important?" she inquired. "If I do, please tell me. I can come back some other time."

Eeth hesitated for a fraction of a second, apparently pondering whether she was, in fact, disturbing him, then shook his head.

"No, it was not that important," he said. "Or at least, nothing I could not finish later. We will have to go somewhere else, though. Talking is strictly prohibited here."

At the moment, there was nobody else in the garden of silence and Fenya doubted that anybody would reprimand a Jedi master for talking to an initiate in here, but apparently Eeth took the rules very seriously. She did not want to discourage that, so she said: "All right, let's go somewhere else, then."

She checked her chrono and found that they still had three hours till dinnertime, so she proposed: "We could go to one of the observation lounges. I haven't been to Coruscant for nearly a year; I would quite like to watch its skyline for a while. How about you? I could ask Master Min if he'd allow me to take you."

Eeth gave her a thoughtful look, then nodded.

"Yes, please," he said politely, his face impassive.

He was always so composed, Fenya thought. Most initiates would have been elated to get out of the crèche and to a place that was very rarely accessible to them. If Eeth was pleased, however, he did not show it, although Fenya suspected he was, else he would not have asked her to come.

Truth be told, Fenya had no idea why she was even taking the child to the observation lounge. She had certainly not been planning it when she had come to a crèche to check, as she infrequently did, on the Zabrak boy she had found on Nar Shaddaa six years ago. Her previous check-ups had invariably been brief affairs. Usually they had been sitting in Eeth's room, with her asking a few questions and Eeth giving monosyllabic answers. She had not had the feeling that Eeth was doing this in order to get rid of her, though; he was just not very talkative. Two or three times, she had talked a little longer to Eeth's crèche master, who had told her about the boy's remarkable progress in nearly all areas of his studies. This had pleased her; after all, she had been among those who had, at the time, pressured the Council to reconsider its initial decision of refusig to accept Eeth into the Temple. In any case, the relationship she had with Eeth could hardly be described as close or personal. And still, she felt curiously comfortable in his company, despite the fact that he was making no apparent effort to give her that feeling - which most initiates who, at age ten were starting to hope for a master to accept them as padawans, surely would have tried.

They sat down in an empty observation lounge that gave a spectacular view of mid-afternoon Coruscant with its dense traffic. Fenya had been out in the wild for quite a while, and she had not lied when she had told Eeth she would enjoy the view.

Normally, she would have asked the boy how he was doing, but she suspected that Eeth's response would most likely be a mere "good", resulting in an awkward silence. So she asked instead: "What kind of meditation did I interrupt just now?"

Eeth hesitated for a moment, then replied: "Nothing specific. I often meditate to find my balance. Or to think."

"Did you have reason to do so?" Fenya asked bluntly. She wanted to get to know this withdrawn, self-sufficient boy better, and she suspected that blunt questions were the best way to achieve this.

Eeth looked surprised and uncomfortable for a moment at this question.

"Yes," he finally said – the least forthcoming answer imaginable.

"Tell me about them," Fenya ordered. This might not be the most compassionate reaction to Eeth's clam-like behaviour, but by now, she had an inkling of where her relationship with the boy was going, and if her feeling was right, they definitely needed to get their conversations past the polite "How do you do" stage even if it meant having to order Eeth to tell her about himself.

Eeth frowned, but did not go as far as to voice any protest.

"There was a conflict with some boys in my crèche group," he said reluctantly. "Master Min did not exactly find fault with my actions, at least not enough to punish me, but he told me I desperately needed to learn to get along with people. I do not really know what I did wrong, though. That was what I was meditating about."

"And did you have any insights?" asked Fenya, a lot more gently than before.

Eeth shook his head mutely.

"Well, what exactly happened between you and the boys?" Fenya continued to probe.

Eeth sighed, clearly not enthusiastic about continuing this conversation, but not about to refuse to answer.

"We were coming out of the gym after our kata lesson," he said. "In that lesson, our teacher demonstrated an aerial move and I was the only one to master it. Heyan, one of the boys in my group, said to me that he had no idea how I did this and that he was not going to master this move in a hundred years. I told him that with such a self-defeating attitude, he was indeed never going to master that move. He said that it had nothing to do with his attitude and that someone like me, who is a natural, would not understand anyway. I told him that I am not a natural. I also pointed out that I spend my free time practising instead of playing around or slacking off, and if he did the same, maybe he would not have to complain about not being able to learn new moves. For some reason, this upset him although it's the plain truth. So he tried to punch me. I had to defend myself, so I caught his arm and flung him on his back."

"Did you hurt him?" asked Fenya.

"No!" exclaimed Eeth indignantly. "I knew what I was doing! I did not want to hurt him, I was only defending myself. However, this seemed to upset him even more and the next thing I knew was that he and three of his friends were trying to fight me all at once. At that point, Master Min noticed what was going on, though, and intervened. He talked to all of us together and then separately. That was when he told me I needed to learn to get along with others."

"That much is true," Fenya said wryly. "When you become a Jedi one day, that is an ability you will need."

Eeth gave her a scrutinising look. "So you think I am going to become a Jedi?" he asked, and suddenly, for the first time during their talk, he sounded his age, possibly even younger. Obviously, there were some insecurities hidden behind his self-assured façade. Fenya was a little surprised at this particular type of insecurity, though.

"Why ever should you not become a Jedi?" she asked. "From everything I hear, you excel in your studies, and you excel in your training. You have a strong connection with the Force and a tremendous amount of mental discipline. Do you have any doubt that a Jedi is what the Force has meant for you to become?"

"When I meditate, no," said Eeth with conviction. "But when I'm with the others… I am not so sure. Master Min is right, I do not get along with people. I have never fit in. But the Jedi have to deal with people a lot. I sometimes get the feeling that whenever I try to talk to others, someone ends up angry or upset or sad. And that will not do for a Jedi knight, will it? "

"Well, we all have things we need to work on," Fenya said mildly. "Being perfect at everything, without exception, is hardly a realistic goal. All Jedi have their strengths and weaknesses. And you are not old enough to be a Jedi yet by a long shot; you still have plenty of time to learn."

"Well, that's good, because I think there is a lot I need to learn," Eeth said in an uncharacteristically small voice. "For example, I fail to see what I did wrong when talking to Heyan. I was merely telling the truth. Master Min seems to think that was unwise, though."

"There are moments to tell the truth and moments to be silent," said Fenya. "And there are different ways to tell the truth. You can make it sound encouraging or you can make it sound disparaging. You can offer help or you can pass judgement. In this case, you did the latter, and people rarely react well to that. Especially people your age, who would not expect a crèche mate to pass judgement on them."

"So this is about the fact that I am not his superior?" Eeth asked, apparently struggling to make sense of this.

"Partly, yes," said Fenya.

"And I should have offered help?" Eeth continued to ask.

"That would have been a good option, I suppose," Fenya replied, suppressing a smile. Eeth seemed to be a social dyslexic, but he was obviously willing to learn.

Eeth nodded thoughtfully, processing what he had heard.

"Thank you, Master Jaa," he said a little absently.

"You are very welcome," said Fenya gently. "We all reach a point where we need guidance with some things. And I think this is an area that you need guidance with."

Eeth was silent for a moment. He was not good at accepting guidance, and he knew it. Instructions, yes. Teaching, yes. Guidance? His general tendency to take control often interfered with that. In the crèche environment, that had not really been a problem. Sticking to the rules and fulfilling all his duties had usually been sufficient to keep him out of trouble. Realistically, he knew that if he continued to become a Jedi, the Force would lead him to a master at some point, and that would be a much more personal relationship than he had with his crèche master. Refusing to follow a master's guidance would not be an option. Suddenly it occurred to him that he might not have been the only one to pursue this line of thought. His head snapped up and he looked at Fenya intently.

"Have you taken me here because you are thinking about becoming the one to offer me that guidance?" he asked bluntly.

This time, it was Fenya who was taken aback. She had by now more or less resigned herself to the fact that taking on a third padawan was going to be the end result of her dealings with Eeth, but she had not expected such a direct question so fast. Well, there was nothing for it now.

"Yes," she replied honestly, "although I'm not sure I was aware of it at the time. How do you feel about that? Or rather, what does the Force tell you about it?"

Eeth thought about the question seriously and for quite a while. Fenya did not interrupt him; it was an important question, after all, and a rash answer would do no one any good.

"It feels right," he finally said. "And not only because you are the one person in the Temple whom I have known longest. It feels right in the Force. I also think I need to accept guidance if I want to progress. And I do want to progress."

That sounded far too mature coming from a ten-year-old. But of course, Eeth had a lot more experience with life than most ten-year-olds in the Temple had. He had always seemed older than his years.

"And I want you to make progress," Fenya said, realising that it was true. For some reason and at some point, without her knowing it, the stand-offish, earnest, ambitious Zabrak initiate had won her heart. Not to mention the mental connection she had already felt to him the moment she had first met him on Nar Shaddaa, six years ago. Their pairing was Force-willed, that much she was sure of.

"Would you like to move in with me tonight, or would you rather take your time saying good bye to your crèche master and crèche mates?" she asked as they made their way back to the crèche a while later.

Eeth frowned. "Don't we have to ask the Council first?" he asked.

"Yes," said Fenya, "but that's a mere formality. I won't even have to move; I still have a spare bedroom from the time I trained my second padawan, Shunti."

"If the Council has to agree first, it would be improper to move in before that has happened," Eeth declared with an air of finality. Fenya was not quite sure whether to be amused or irritated at this statement, but settled for the former. After all, there was no rush.

"Very well," she said. "I will make an appointment for tomorrow morning and will pick you up before then. "You need only pack your toiletry items, underwear, sleep-wear and whatever personal items you want to take. You will receive new uniforms and a new practice sabre."

Eeth nodded.

"I will do that," he promised.

Master Min took the news without showing any sign of surprise. In fact, he had been expecting this for years, and he was glad to finally see it happen. Eeth was at a stage where the crèche had little more to offer to him in terms of instruction. Moreover, he was in dire need of more individual guidance than a crèche master could provide. Becoming a padawan would enable him to advance in his training and studies at his own speed and to work more effectively on his ability to interact with people. And Fenya Jaa, with her patience, long experience and the necessary mixture between strictness and a mild sense of humour, was the perfect person to guide him in this process.

He handed Eeth a duffel bag and told him: "Please go and pack your things. I need to talk to your prospective master for a moment. I will be in to see you in a while."

"Thank you, Master Min," said Eeth formally, bowing to his crèche master. He turned towards his future master and bowed to her, too.

"May the Force be with you, Master Jaa," he said even more formally.

"And with you, Eeth," she replied solemnly. "I'll see you tomorrow, then. Expect me after breakfast."

"I will," said Eeth and took off.

"Master Jaa," said Master Min, "I don't want to tell you too much about Eeth. It's probably best if you make your own experiences. But one thing you should know, in order to better understand the sometimes peculiar way in which he behaves. As you know, he has spent nearly two years as a street child on Nar Shaddaa. He has been able to draw on the Force in order to get over this experience to a remarkable extent, but it has still left a huge psychological impact. He is experiencing his life in the Temple as the opposite to his life on Nar Shaddaa, and he is doing his utmost to reinforce the difference between both. For example, Nar Shaddaa is an utterly lawless place. Here, there are structures and rules. Eeth not only sticks to them with single-minded determination, he also expects others to do the same. Needless to say, that does not exactly make him popular with the other children. However, the inherent logic in this determines Eeth's behaviour on many levels. Nar Shaddaa is dirty and unhealthy. Consequently, Eeth pays a lot of attention to cleanliness and health. You won't find food stains on his shirts, and you won't find him eating unhealthy food. What is most important is the fact that on Nar Shaddaa, he was as helpless, exposed and vulnerable as anyone can be. Consequently, with respect to his life at the Temple, he is doing his utmost to be in control. Now, I am not telling you that you have to indulge all these personality traits to an unlimited extent, but you should be aware of them and know how where they come from."

Fenya nodded.

"That makes a lot of sense," she said, "and it does explain a lot of his somewhat odd behaviour. Thank you for telling me. IHe does not strike me as a boy who is hard to handle, though; or did I get a wrong impression there."

Min smiled and shook his head.

"No, he is not hard to handle, at least not in the conventional sense," he said. "He sticks to the rules. He accepts hierarchies. He obeys orders and he never shirks his duties. And yet... he tends to think that he knows best. And he can be very obstinate about that. But as I said, it's best if you see for yourself."

By the next morning, Fenya had obtained an appointment with the Council. She had cleared out Shunti's old room and stocked up the contents of her cooler. At half past eight, she came to pick Eeth up. He was already waiting for her at the crèche entrance, duffel bag in hand.

"Good morning, Master Jaa," he said, bowing. Obviously he was reserving the denomination of "Master" for the time after they had seen the Council. Fenya understood him a little better now after her talk with Master Min.

"Good morning, initiate Eeth," she said, smiling at him. "Have you already said good bye to Master Min? Are you ready to go?"

"Yes," said Eeth. "He's teaching now, he told me to wait for you here. Are we going to see the Council?"

"We are going to my quarters first," Fenya replied. "Well, our quarters, of course. You can drop off your bag there so you won't have to take it in front of the Council. After that, yes, we are going to see the Council."

One hour later, they returned to Fenya's – and now Eeth's – quarters where the boy's duffel bag stood waiting in the hallway.

"Best unpack your things and make yourself acquainted with your new room," Fenya said. Eeth nodded, took his bag and went to the room she showed him. She had hardly arrived in the kitchen and started making some tea when he was back.

"Do you need help?" she asked.

"No, I'm done," said Eeth.

"What, already?" Fenya asked in surprise.

Eeth shrugged. "I do not own a lot of things. Putting underwear into drawers does not take long."

"Don't you want to look around your new room a little?" she inquired.

Eeth shook his head.

"It's just a room," he said dismissively.

"All right then," Fenya said, a little taken aback. "Would you like some tea, too?"

"I do not know what it tastes like," Eeth admitted. "We mostly used to drink water in the crèche. But I will try some tea if that is what you drink. Is it safe for Zabrak?"

"It's a good question," she said, "and the answer is yes."

Fenya had worked with many Zabrak in the past – Zabrak being one of the most common species in the Temple – and knew that they could digest most everything other humanoids could. With regard to her tea, she was positive. As for the other stuff in the kitchen, she had programmed "suitable for Zabrak" into her console before ordering her groceries, so Eeth should be safe.

She poured the tea and showed Eeth where the cups were. Soon, they were sitting at the table, each with a steaming mug of tea in front of them. Fenya offered Eeth sugar, which he declined. He liked the tea without it well enough, he said.

"What do we do now?" he inquired.

"Quite honestly, I am not going to do anything before I have finished my tea," Fenya said mildly. "After that, we have several options. We could go and get you your new uniforms and training sabre. We could meditate and lay the foundations of our training bond. We could also have a session in the gym so I can see where you are with your training, but we will need your training sabre for that."

"Could we do the meditation first?" Eeth asked.

Fenya nodded.

"Sure, why not?" she replied.

It was a joy to meditate with Eeth, she found. He had such a strong connection to the Force and such a high level of mental discipline that it required practically no effort to guide him through the meditation which allowed them to form a training bond. She had done this before, once with her master and twice with her previous padawans, but never had the process been so easy. Eeth's focus never once wavered, which was highly unusual for a ten-year-old. Only when she mentally nudged him to lower his shields did she sense a slight amount of hesitation. He complied, however; and when she asked him to release his fears and anxieties into the Force, he did so readily, giving the impression that he had done this a thousand times before. Which was quite necessary because the amount of fears he released, with her quiet support, was impressive. Working on negative emotions was a task that most young apprentices disliked, and Fenya did not presume that Eeth was an exception; but he did it without the slightest trace of reluctance. When he had reached the required level of serenity, she invited him to connect with her, and he followed the invitation readily. Building up a fledgling training bond was a powerful experience and one that she had enjoyed every single time it had happened, but possibly never as much as this time. When, after quite a long time, master and padawan arose from their meditative trance, Eeth held his eyes closed for a few seconds longer, and there was an unconscious smile on his face that mirrored his master's. Fenya felt a warm rush of affection for the boy.

Next, she took Eeth to procure uniforms, a practice sabre and a few more items he needed, then introduced him to the main dining hall. Eeth chose fish, steamed whole grains, a salad and a piece of fruit for lunch.

"Is this what you usually eat or are you trying to impress me with your healthy eating habits?" she asked as they sat down, grinning at him.

Eeth stared at her, clearly offended.

"Are you suggesting I would not pick healthy food if it was not for your presence?" he asked indignantly.

"Relax," Fenya said mildly. "It was a joke. You need to learn to recognise those if you want to get along with people. My grin was meant to clue you in."

Eeth merely gave her a half-glare. With a shrug, she let the matter drop and started on her food. Only after she had raised the first fork to her mouth did Eeth start on his. He was obviously very well-mannered.

This also showed in the way he ate: quietly and tidily, not too fast and not too slow. Only when both had finished his lunch did he talk again.

"When will I start classes?" he asked.

Fenya explained about the placement test he would be taking tomorrow. Actual classes would only start four days from now, however, as today was a Thursday. Eeth did not seem to be entirely satisfied with that information, but accepted it for now.

"Will we go to the gym now?" he asked as soon as his master rose from her chair.

"Better wait for an hour for the food to set," she replied. "Besides, we need to fetch our gym bags. Let's go home and rest for a short while."

"I do not need rest," Eeth said resolutely. "While you rest, could you give me lessons to work on so I can prepare for my new classes? Or could we do Force work?"

Fenya's eyebrows rose incredulously.

"Are you always so eager to have work heaped on you?" she asked.

"Yes," said Eeth stonily.

Well, that was… interesting. Fenya was not quite sure what to make of this yet.

"We can have a look at your Force work skills," she conceded.

"Thank you, master," Eeth said earnestly.

Unsurprisingly, Eeth's skills at Force work turned out to be quite advanced for a ten-year-old. He was even better with a sabre: fast, agile, precise, in superb physical condition and completely in unison with the Force.

"You must have worked hard in your kata and sparring classes," Fenya remarked as they ended their first match which had been a lot more challenging than she had expected from a child this age.

"I did," Eeth replied matter-of-factly. "And I worked out a lot in my free time. Having control of my sabre might mean the difference between life and death one day."

He said it with the authority of someone who had seen death quite often already in his young life.

"Well, that's true," Fenya said. "Just remember that there are other things you need to work on as well."

The following weeks showed her that Eeth was actually extremely, if not excessively, diligent at working on other things than his physical training, as long as these things involved studying, meditating, Force work and chores. After a few days, it dawned on him that his master was not willing to load him with enough work to last him for fourteen hours a day, seven days a week. From then on, he desisted from asking her, but he still spent every free minute either at his desk or on his meditation mat or in the gym, performing all the exercises that he was allowed to do on his own or building up strength and stamina. Sometimes he went to the pools instead. If he spotted things that needed doing in their quarters, he did them.

On their very first day, they got into in argument about Eeth's bedtime, which he insisted was too early.

"I do not need much sleep," he declared. "I could make use of the time in better ways than lying in bed."

"No, you could not," said Fenya decisively. "Sleep is important."

"I know that," said Eeth respectfully, but firmly. "But not everyone has the same need for sleep. I need less than others."

"We'll start with this bedtime and I'll see how it works for you," said Fenya equally firmly. "Now get ready for bed."

"May I read some more in bed, then?" asked Eeth, apparently recognising defeat.

"A quarter of an hour, at most," said Fenya. "If you still have trouble falling asleep after that, I can help you with a sleep compulsion."

"Thank you, that will not be necessary," Eeth said politely. He got ready for bed, performed his evening meditation with his master, climbed into his bed, read for a quarter of an hour and then switched off his light without being told.

Fenya might have congratulated herself on having found such a compliant apprentice, but somehow Eeth's demonstrative compliance made her slightly wary. However, only after a week had passed did she become suspicious about the fact that Eeth was consistently awake and alert when she came in to wake him.

"Just out of curiosity," she said during breakfast one morning. "What hour do you set your alarm clock to?"

"I do not set an alarm clock," Eeth replied promptly. "I wake up on my own."

"Very well," said Fenya, taking a sip of tea. "And at what time do you wake up?"

"It varies," said Eeth, his face and the tone of his voice absolutely deadpan.

"You, padawan, are being evasive," said Fenya pointedly. "What was the latest time you have woken up during the past week?"

Eeth scowled and hesitated a little. "Five thirty," he finally said.

Fenya had been suspicious from the outset, but nevertheless she was taken aback.

"And the earliest?" she asked, just to get the complete picture.

"Four thirty," said Eeth reluctantly. "I told you I do not need much sleep."

"What have you been doing in the mornings until I came to wake you up?" inquired Fenya.

"Studying, mostly," said Eeth.

Fenya pursed her lips and frowned at him.

"Right," she finally said. "Your nightly curfew will be extended by half an hour."

"Thank you, master," Eeth said, and it sounded genuine grateful.

"At the same time," Fenya continued, pointing a stern look at him, "I forbid you to get up any time before six in the morning under any circumstances short of fire or earthquake."

"What if I have to go to the restroom?" asked Eeth innocently.

"Now you are trying to be insolent," Fenya snapped. "You get my meaning. Stick to my instructions if you know what's good for you."

"Yes, master," Eeth said contritely. "Sorry."

And he did stick to her instructions from now on. Fenya concluded from this episode that giving him direct orders - if possible, without leaving loopholes - was what worked best for him.

Nevertheless, over the course of the following days, Fenya's concern about her padawan's excessive working habits rose. When two-and-a-half weeks of Eeth's apprenticeship had passed and he had not, despite frequent encouragement, spent a single hour in the padawans' lounge or otherwise relaxing, playing or entertaining himself, she decided to put her foot down.

"What are you planning on doing tonight?" she asked him that Monday during dinner.

"I'm going to go to the pools to swim for an hour and then put in some more work for my biology class," Eeth replied immediately.

"No, you are not," said Fenya decisively. "There will have to be some changes here."

"Why?" asked Eeth, giving the impression of being honestly surprised. "Don't you want me to do well in my training and in my classes?"

"Eeth, you are already doing excellently, and you know it," Fenya said a tad impatiently. "Do you remember the conversation we had in the observation lounge the day you decided to become my padawan?"

Eeth scowled a little. She had come to recognise the expression on his face as one that meant he did not like the topic.

"Yes," he said reluctantly.

"In that case," Fenya continued, "you certainly remember agreeing that you need to learn how to get along with people. Well, there is no way of learning this if you keep avoiding people."

"I do not avoid people," Eeth said with dignity. "I go to classes. I spend a lot of time with you, too."

"And how many minutes, would you say, have you interacted with other padawans in matters not strictly related to your lessons during the past two weeks?" Fenya asked pointedly.

Eeth did not reply to this question, which was answer enough.

"I thought so," said Fenya. "You are going to spend your evenings, after dinnertime, in the padawans' lounge from now on. Until further notice."

Eeth looked stunned for a moment. Then worried.

"But master!" he protested. "How am I supposed to do well in my lessons if I do not have the evenings to prepare? There will be exams coming up, too! And I am not allowed to work in the mornings either!"

"The exams will be two and a half months from now, padawan," Fenya said reasonably. However, she discerned a very real hint of panic in the emotions emanating from her padawan, and thus relented a little.

"Every second evening, then," she said. "Starting tonight. And that's an order. An order I will not entertain any discussions about."

The scowl on Eeth's face deepened, but he did not persist. Without further argument, he went off to the padawans' lounge after dinner and came back a little before his bedtime.

"How did it go?" asked Fenya as he entered their quarters.

"Good," said Eeth neutrally, hanging his cloak onto a hook.

"Did you get to know any of the other padawans?" she pressed on.

Eeth stiffened and hesitated.

"Well, sort of," he said a little awkwardly. Fenya instantly smelled a rat.

"Padawan, what exactly have you been doing tonight?" she demanded to know.

"I went to the padawans' lounge and spent my evening there, as you told me to!" Eeth replied firmly.

Fenya's eyes narrowed. She rose from the table and beckoned her padawan over.

"That is not what I meant with my question," she said sternly. "What, exactly, did you do while you were in the padawans' lounge?"

Eeth scowled.

"I sat in an armchair and read a book," he said, folding his arms across his chest and looking at her defiantly. "That was not against my instructions."

"No, but it was against the spirit of my instructions, and you knew it," said Fenya ominously. "I've got enough of your attempts to evade my orders and decide what is best for you all by yourself. For as long as I'm your master, you will leave that job to me. I have been lenient on the issue of your unhealthy morning habits, but enough is enough. This time, there will be repercussions."

Eeth's frowned at her.

"I did not break any rules, nor did I disobey you, endanger my safety or do anything else that warrants punishment," he ground out. "I do not deserve to be punished."

"I beg to disagree," said Fenya calmly, but firmly. "You are intelligent enough to know the purpose and intent of my instructions, and yet you went out of your way to avoid following them. I was already unhappy with that strategy when your curfew was concerned and I'm even less amused now."

She pulled out a chair from the table and sat down.

"Bare your bottom and get over my lap," she ordered in as stern a tone of voice as she had ever used with Eeth.

And Eeth obeyed, but in a way that suggested he did not at all consider this punishment justified. He lay across his master's lap, stiff as a board, and he did not make a sound or even wince as she started spanking him. Nor did he show any kind of reaction as she increased the force and frequency behind the swats.

"Are you drawing on the Force in order to deal with the pain?" she inquired, pausing for a moment.

"No, master," Eeth said evenly. "It was forbidden in the crèche. I assumed the same would be the case with you."

"It is," said Fenya and resumed the spanking, not commenting on the fact that most ten-year-olds would not even have known how to use the Force in order to deal with pain. She knew that Eeth had mastered the technique at an early age, on Nar Shaddaa. Despite the fact that he was not using it right now, however, the spanking she was dealing out did not seem to have any effect – and that was not because she was going easy on her padawan. She knew that Zabrak were, by nature, much better able to resist pain than Iktotchi or most other humanoids, but Eeth was still a ten-year-old-boy with skin on his bottom that must contain some nerve endings. Still, she did not seem to get through to him at all.

Recognising the futility of her efforts, she stopped the spanking and ordered: "Get up, pull up your pants and look at me."

Eeth complied, the expression on his face being quite defiant.

"You do not understand why I saw fit to punish you at all, do you?" asked Fenya.

"No, master," Eeth replied, stony-faced.

"Then I will try to explain," said Fenya. "Padawan, you are very good at obeying orders. You are also very good at circumventing them without disobeying outright. Technically, you are sticking to the rules while at the same time defeating the purpose the rules have been made for. And you are smart enough to know exactly that this is what you're doing. That, however, is plain dishonest. You claim to be going to the padawans' lounge, knowing full well that I only made you go there so you can acquire some practice in interacting with other padawans your age; and then you do something that goes entirely against this purpose. That is no better than lying to me. I would much prefer it if you defied my instructions directly. That way, you would at least be honest with me."

Eeth lowered his eyes as she was talking, and she knew that, finally, she was getting through to him. He opened his mouth to speak twice and closed it again; he seemed to be conflicted about what to say. Finally, he asked in a small voice: "Would you allow me to meditate on what you have told me, master? I promise I am not trying to be evasive. I just need some time to think."

Fenya scrutinised his downcast face for a moment, then nodded.

"Ten minutes, padawan," she said. Eeth bowed wordlessly and took off for his room.

Exactly ten minutes later, he came back and knelt in front of his master's knees in a formal gesture of submission.

"I apologise, master," he said quietly, but clearly. "You are right. I tried to circumvent your instructions because you told me to do something I did not want to do. I convinced myself that I was not doing anything wrong, but I was lying to myself. I was dishonest and disobedient and you were right to want to punish me for it."

Fenya was more than a little surprised at this candid and plainly truthful admission of guilt, and her heart warmed for her padawan. She steeled herself against becoming too soft, though. Just like every other child, Eeth needed to know that there were consequences for bad behaviour.

"Thank you, padawan," she said calmly. "I accept your apology. Now, as for the matter of punishment. Would the spanking I just gave you truly count as punishment for you? Would it be enough deter you from doing something like this again in the near future?"

Eeth shook his head almost imperceptibly and admitted hesitantly: "Not really, master."

"I thought so," said Fenya crisply. "In that case, we are not quite done here. Wait for me exactly where you are."

Eeth remained kneeling obediently; the expression on his face was not one of defiance any longer, but of shame. Clearly he had realised that he had not met his master's expectations and equally clearly that realisation did not sit well with him. Well, he would just have to learn to take her authority seriously, instead of following his own whims.

Fenya took a pocket knife from a drawer, went into a nearby meditation garden and cut a sturdy switch. After a second's thought, she cut a second one. She had the feeling that, with this padawan, she would have to adjust her standards as far as the harshness of punishments was concerned. Possibly, she might even have to procure some actual spanking implements that, with her previous padawans, she had always managed to do without.

Armed with the two switches, she returned to her quarters where Eeth was still kneeling motionlessly, his head lowered.

"Padawan, bare your bottom and bend over the table," she instructed.

Eeth complied without hesitation, having briefly eyed the switches, but not showing any apparent signs of nervousness. He was just tall enough to grip the opposite end of the table top, and that was what Fenya told him to do. Then she started switching his bottom, using both switches at once. And that, finally got a reaction out of her padawan. However much Eeth might be trying to bear his punishment stoically, it was simply impossible without being allowed to draw on the Force. At the first stroke, he winced; at the second, he held his breath and only just managed to stay still; at the third, he hissed and started shifting his weight from foot to foot. Throughout the punishment, he managed to refrain from reaching back, which testified to his enormous self-control, but he could not keep himself from making sounds of distress, stomping his feet occasionally and finally crying softly into his sleeve. It took Fenya eighteen strokes with both switches to reach that point, which was a lot more than she would have been comfortable with where any of her previous padawans was concerned. Eeth's bottom looked pretty bad by the time she was done. However, there was no resentment in his demeanour as he straightened up, wiped the tears from his face and said in a slightly hoarse voice: "Thank you for correcting me, master. I will try to do better from now on."

"You are welcome," said Fenya gently, surprised and a little touched at this unexpected reaction. She hugged Eeth briefly, but sensed that this made him uncomfortable and therefore released him quickly.

"You will go to the padawans' lounge again tomorrow," she told him. "And you will spend your time there talking to other padawans to the best of your ability. Is that understood?"

"Yes, master," Eeth said, and she knew that this time he would do as she had told him.

"Good," she said. "Now, I want you to meditate for half an hour. After that, I will give you some bacta to apply to your bottom. I don't want you to have to sleep like that."

"Can't I just use the Force to heal myself?" Eeth asked.

Fenya sighed. "Yes, my almighty padawan. If you prefer it that way."