Disclaimer: All the Star Wars universe are belong to George Lucas. Jordana, Tahira, and Dax belong to me. I make no money off of this.
Prologue
The sun was setting on the city-planet of Coruscant, yet despite the growing darkness the planet never seemed to sleep. Atop the massive Jedi Temple, a lone Padawan learner stood, concentrating through the Force. Jordana Darai had been sensing a disturbance in the Force for a couple of weeks now. Every night she had come up here, trying to figure out what it was, when it was going to happen. Frustrated, she gave a exasperated sigh and sat down. She hadn't been able to figure out anything. Her concentration was broken when she felt the familiar presence of her master, Tahira Vereek, behind her. She may have been 15 to 20 years older than her, but to Jordana she was far wiser than any on the Council.
"I thought I'd find you up here Jordana."she said as her Padawan turned around. Tahira sat down beside her. "You still feel it?" Jordana nodded, lost again in concentration. Her master continued, "You know you're not the only one who feels it. I feel it, the Council feels it, hell every Jedi feels it. So why are you so obsessed with it?"
"Because...I just...am. It feels like it's gonna hit close to home with me, like I'm going to be affected more than others."
"You could be, who knows." Her padawan was obviously still distracted. She looked over at Jordana, then back at the city. "So...how's Anakin doing?" she said smiling, refering to Jordana's crush on her friend, Anakin Skywalker. Jordana smiles slightly and looked down at the ground.
"I guess he's ok. I mean, I haven't talked to him since he left for Ansion."
"Oh yes...that's right. You two talk every day and spend most of your free time together." Tahira continued. Unlike most Jedi, Tahira didn't believe that it was wrong to have feelings for someone, that it was what kept us human. She believed that no one could help the way they felt about another. She did believe, however, that what was important was our actions, whether or not we acted on our emotions. It was these beliefs, and Tahira's own feelings for Obi-Wan Kenobi, that kept her from making Jordana conform to the rigid ways of the Code.
"Oh come on...you know he and I are friends." came her reply, trying to hide the fact that her face had become slightly red.
"Jordana I see the way you look at him when he turns his back. It's obvious how much you wish the two of you could be together."
"Unfortunately Master, the Code forbids it." Jordana replied, the saddness in her voice wasn't being hidden very well by from the stoic, tone she was using. Turning to her master, she continued, "And what about you, Master? How about the way you look at Master Kenobi?"
"As you so eloquently put it, my young Padawan, the Code forbids it. And Obi-Wan is far more traditional than Anakin."
"So why don't you just talk to him, or something?"
"Obi-Wan and I do talk, just not as often as we used to."
"So, why does the Code forbid love anyway? I mean, wouldn't it make more sense if we were allowed to? I know getting involved with someone whose not a Jedi could cause problems, but why is it such a bad thing that two Jedi would love each other?" she asked, looking towards the sky.
"Attachment is forbidden and possession is forbidden." her master recited, also looking up at the sky.
"Well, if that isn't the most hypocritical statement I've ever heard, I don't know what is."
"What do you mean?"
"If you truely love someone, they are not your possession. And it's impossible for attachment to be forbidden because there will always be a sense of attachment between a master and their apprentice.
Time passed as both master and apprentice pondered this thought. Then, Tahira stood up.
"I'm going back inside now. Don't be out here too late."
"I won't, Master."
"Alright. Good-night Jordana...Skywalker." Tahira teased before turning around and began to leave. Jordana turned around, determinded not to let her get the last word.
"Good-night Tahira...Kenobi."
"Hey, you don't tell, I don't tell." she said without missing a beat or turning around. Jordana laid down on the roof of the Temple and stared up at the star filled sky. She gave up trying to figure out the disturbance in the Force, or why the Code forbade love. Instead, she let her mind wander, thinking about Anakin...
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Jordana Darai was ten years old. She had not yet met Tahira, and when she was not in any sort of class, she spent most of her time wandering the Temple. One day, she noticed a boy about her age with golden blond hair and blue eyes sitting on the grand staircase, leading to all other chambers. She hadn't seen him around before, so she approached him and sat down.
"What's your name?" she asked, trying to be friendly.
"Who are you?" he responded, hesitant to answer her question.
"I asked you first." came her cool reply. He paused for a while.
"My name is Anakin Skywalker."
"I'm Jordana Darai." he looked at her then looked at the ground. "How come I haven't seen you around here before?" she asked, suddenly curious.
"I'm from Tattooine. Obi-Wan Kenobi brought me after Qui-Gon Jinn died so I could be trained." Jordana looked down at the floor. She realized she was heading into sensitive territory.
"I'm sorry." she said, quietly. There is a long silence between them. Then, Anakin looked at her with a smile on his face.
"Do you have a lightsaber yet?" he asked.
"No, not yet...not for another year."
"Oh..." he said, with a sad look on his face. Jordana then got an idea...
"You wanna see where the traing room is? I go there and watch everyone else all the time."
"Yeah...sure." came Anakin's excited reply as he followed her.
And they had been best friends ever since...
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Two years later, Jordana was once again overcome with boredom. Her master was busy with something and let Jordana wander around. After several hours, she was walking down an unfamilar corridor when she noticed a small door. When she opened it, there was a steep, dark, staircase. After much debating, curiousity got the better of her, and she climbed the stairs. She opened the door at the top of the stairs. She was on the roof of the Jedi Temple, beneath one of the five pillars. She could see so much of Coruscant, she had never really known how big this planet was until she came up here. For the rest of the afternoon, Jordana sat on the roof, starring at the city.
That night, Jordana found Anakin in his room, meditating.
"Hey, come with me I wanna show you something."
"Normally, Jordie, I would go, but I can't."
"Since when did Anakin Skywalker not wanna go do something?"
"Since my master lectured me on concentrating."
"Come on...ten minutes. Then you can come back here and meditate til the Force is sick of you." He gives her a slight grin before getting up and following her. She lead him down the dark corridors of the Jedi Temple, to the stairs, and out the door that leads to the roof. Jordana and Anakin both stared at the never sleeping Coruscant.
"Wow..when did you find this?" Anakin asked looking at her.
"Earlier today, my master had work to do and let me wander." Anakin eyes fell on the Senate building. He remembered Padme Amidala and wondered if she was there. He had heard she was now a senator for Naboo.
"I wonder if she's there." he whispered to himself.
"Who?" Anakin looked at her, he didn't know she heard him say that.
"Padme."
"Amidala? The senator, former queen, of Naboo?" Anakin nodded. "You got a thing with her or something?" He frowned slightly.
"I have thought about her every day since we last parted."
"Sorry.." Jordana smiled as she tried to hide her laughter. "Ani and Padme sittin in a tree... k-i-s-s-i-n-g..." she taunted.
"Shut up Jordie!" he growled.
"Alright sorry...she just seems a little old for you."
"Four years?"
"Well, yeah." Jordana looked at Anakin, who had a serious expression on his face. She realized for the first time how deeply he cared about her. "You do know the Code forbids it."
"I know." he whispered.
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A sixteen year old Anakin was leading Jordana to the loading dock where all the speeders and star cruisers where kept in the Temple.
"Where the hell are we going?" Jordana asked.
"We are going to teach you how to fly." came his response as the entered the loading dock.
"Whoa..Whoa..wait. Can we do that?"
"Yep. I got permission to use these." He said pointing to two speeders, "Your master on the other hand has to teach you to use the starships". Jordana picked the red one and Anakin picked the black one. After a couple hours of teaching, Anakin decided to test her knowlege of what she had learned.
"Alright Jordie you up for a challenge?"
"Of course."
"We're gonna race. First one to circle around the that tall building over there and back wins." he said as he reved up his engine.
"Got it." she replied.
"Ready, Set, Go!" He yelled and they were off. Anakin took the lead. After a while, he looked behind him to see where she was. He couldn't see her. A slight feeling of panic began to take over him. He was about to turn around and look for her when from underneath him, a red speeder came flying up and turned around in the parking lot. Anakin stared in complete shock.
"No way!" he screamed as he chased after her. Jordana was heading back to the Temple's landing platform. To gain maximum speed, she released a lever in her speeder, causing it to increase it's speed. Anakin began to worry that she would crash her speeder, but was relieved when she landed safely on the platform. Not too long after she landed, he did also. Anakin came running up to her.
"That was incredible! How the hell did you do that?" he asked in amazement.
"In all honesty, I have no idea." she said as she hopped out of her speeder. When Anakin looked at Jordana, she felt a spark run through her. There was something about the way his blue eyes seemed to look into her, it sent a slight chill up her spine. She began to see him in a whole new way, as more than a friend. Both her and Anakin turned around when they heard footsteps behind them. Tahira Vereek and Obi-Wan Kenobi were standing there.
"Jordana, that was very impressive. You keep this up and you'll be a better pilot than Anakin." he complemented her.
"Thank-you Master Kenobi." He then turned to Anakin.
"Anakin, we have to go. We have a meeting with the Council to discuss our next assignment."
"Yes Master." he replied, turning to Jordana, "I'll see you later Jordie." he said, smiling at her. Jordana felt her heart skip slightly.
"See ya when you get back." she said. She watched Anakin and Obi-Wan walk off the platform into the Temple. She and her master began to walk back inside.
"That was quite impressive, what you pulled earlier."
"Thank you,Master. Do you have any idea how I did that? He's been racing since he was a kid. I don't know how I managed to get a head of him, much less that stunt coming up from underneath him."
"You're a natural. You don't have to think about what you're doing when you're flying. Couple that with you're quick reflexes, and you could be pretty deadly. May the Force be with us when we get you up in an actual starship."
"Master..." she began
"I'm just kidding with ya." Tahira looked at her apprentice, who was obviously still thinking about Anakin. "So, you have feelings for Anakin now?" she asked with a sly look on her face. Jordana froze. Her master was getting good at this reading peoples' minds thing.
"You were reading my mind?"
"Not exactly. I could feel your reaction to the way he looked at you."
"Oh..." Jordana knew what was coming, the long speech about how Jedi weren't supposed to love. "So, what now." she continued.
"Absolutely nothing." Tahira replied. Jordana stared at her, confused. No talk, no counciling, nothing. Tahira looked at her apprentice. "Unless of course you want to discuss this with the council?"
"No! I was just wondering..."
"Why I didn't give you some long speech?" Jordana nodded. Tahira laughed. "For someone who five minutes ago looked like she was about to drool over her best friend you sure are bound by tradition." Jordana's face started to turn slightly red. "Jordana you're sixteen years old. Whatever you are feeling is quite normal. Infact it is our emotions that keep us human. We cannot help the way we feel about others. Unfortunately, the Code being as such, we are not allowed to act on these emotions. Therefore, I won't send you to the council so they can lecture you for several hours." Jordana sensed more that what her master was telling her.
"Is there anything else, Master?" Tahira looked at her.
" Well, yes there is. I have my own feelings for Obi-Wan Kenobi."
"I see...do the Council members suspect anything?"
"No and when we're in conference you have to hide your feelings well. They're quite good at finding things like this."
"Yes,Master...you don't tell, I don't tell." There was a long silence before Jordana continued. "Master did I really look like I was about to drool?"
"You could have made a river." Jordana's face redden even more.
"Do you think Anakin noticed?"
"Men tend not to notice." They both laughed and made their way through the Jedi Temple.
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Jordana then snapped back to reality. It had gotten much darker and she figured she better go back inside. She stood up and took a final look at Coruscant. She was now twenty years old, and still in love with Anakin Skywalker. Another breeze blew and she felt the disturbance in the Force, only stronger this time, but still uncertain. As she walked back inside the Temple, she had a feeling her life was about to be changed...forever.