Evelyn swung her lightsaber in a clumsy sweep. She cursed her slow progress. The other trainees often giggled at her clumsiness, thinking it to be a joke. She often had to train through the night to keep up with the other Jedi trainees at the Temple. How long could she keep this up before collapsing? She didn't know yet- she was on night six without sleep, though she wasn't without rest. Meditation helped revive her body for short periods of time, but she knew she couldn't last forever.
She spun on her heel and promptly tripped and fell. She gasped for breath on her hands and knees then shoved herself to her feet. Fiery silk cascaded down her back like a waterfall. There was nothing more she could do in this state and so she deactivated her lightsaber, clipping it onto her belt, and left the training room with a hiss of the door. Eve dragged her feet as she passed a marble pillar depicting ancient Masters in meditative trances. She trudged through the dark corridors of the Temple towards her favorite area.
In the Botanical Hall, plants from all sorts of planets thrived with their own specific heat and light settings. Evelyn always found peace among nature. Meditation came easily to her when she was surrounded by green life. She slipped into a quiet meditation among the Katrani flowers, but gave up after a quarter of an hour and left for her bed chambers.
Evelyn scrunched her face in annoyance at the door hiss that woke her up.
"Evelyn, get up unless you wish to be late."
Eve opened a single bleary eye. Fa-Row's circular orange eyes greeted her. The reptilian Jedi trainee had scales the color of light sand, but his hands and feet were like dry leather, lacking scales but providing sharp claws. Dark tan markings ran from his jaw line, coming to points a fingers length in front of his eyes. Two thin, white horns shot from the back of his head almost like the dragons of Traj'im. A dark brown thermal suit kept his body heat at a constant temperature, as he was unable to do so himself. They made adjustments for his particular body by cutting holes in the fabric so the spiky ridges on his back wouldn't be pressed down painfully.
"Thanks, Fa-Row… five more minutes?"
"The five minutes are not yours to have. They are for the Masters who take their time to teach us."
Evelyn grumbled incoherent words then swung her legs to the side of the padded stone sleeping bench.
"You have been practicing at night again."
"Sort of. Don't worry about it so much, though."
"Your eyes and stance give you away. You have made yourself ill, you fool."
"I'm fine. I can't afford to miss a session. You know that, so don't give me any of your Kari'issente crap, all right?"
"It is not my decision to make. I will not stand in your way."
Eve pulled on her boots in a hurry, accidentally putting the right boot on her left before realizing her mistake and rushing to fix it. Her golden hair was decorated with wooden beads and forest green strings that wrapped around small groups of hair. Her eyes were drooped with tiredness, but Eve splashed herself with some cold water from the tiny fountain in her room to wash away some redness.
Clipping her belt into place among her robes, she followed her lizard friend out of the room. The pair sprinted to their first class, arriving late and out of breath. Fa-Row rasped out in his deep gravely voice, "We apologize, Master Windu and fellow students."
"It was my fault, Master Windu. I had slept in and Fa-Row woke me so that I would not miss class."
Mace Windu gestured to them to take their place in the lesson. He presented the trainees with instructions for an assignment.
"You are to work in pairs. Each pair will choose their project and complete it after getting approval first. They may be volunteer projects. One pair may aid the conservancy or teach a class. There are many options before you. You all have intelligence, from what I've been told, so use it and come up with an idea in a few moments."
He then paired off the trainees in rapid succession. Evelyn barely managed to catch her partner's name: Anakin Skywalker. She looked around in search of her partner, hoping he or she would somehow know who she was. Her eyes locked with a pair of liquid blue ones. The quiet intensity of the boy's eyes, for he was a human boy, riveted her. She found it hard to look away. However, when the Jedi Master ordered the pairings to get together and work out a project, she looked down at her hands and flushed.
Looking up, she inferred that the blue eyed boy was Anakin Skywalker, since he was moving towards her. He had sandy blond hair and tanned skin that reminded her of the desert. Steeling herself, Evelyn locked eyes once more with the dark boy.
"Evelyn Groves," she stated firmly, her heart jumping to her throat.
"Anakin Skywalker," he murmured. His voice was like the smoothest silk to Arela's ears, deep and low but with something daunting in its manner.
Eve bowed politely, her golden hair parting and spilling into her face. She straightened to find his lip curled in a scowl and his head barely inclined in a nod.
"Well," said Eve uncertainly, "well, what sorts of things do you enjoy?"
"That isn't the topic Master Windu asked us to discuss," Anakin said with a sneer. "If I didn't know any better, Evelyn, I'd say you were trying to chat me up."
Eve stiffened, her back straightening in disbelief.
She spat indignantly, "I was trying to find out what you were interested in so that we could perhaps do our project on that, Skywalker, but apparently you're too interested in yourself to speak to anyone else."
"You have it all wrong, Groves, you didn't-"
But she failed to hear what she didn't do, because Master Windu paused as he passed them and demanded, "What have you chosen for your project? If you tell me you don't have an idea yet because of your bickering, you will both spend half the night doing cleaning duties."
Anakin's mouth was tightly clamped, as if undecided of what to do.
"We want to do our project in the medicinal area, Master Windu. We thought the infirmary would be the best choice for our combined talents." Eve said quickly.
The Jedi Master had to suppress rolling his eyes. The girl was obviously lying. Anakin Skywalker's talents included so many things- but healing was not included. The boy was rash, impatient, insensitive, and resorted to rude remarks or fighting rather than debate. But the infirmary was very short-staffed at the moment… and perhaps Evelyn's fiery spirit could rein in the boy's temper and teach him some patience and compassion. Stars knew the girl had enough compassion for the both of them.
"Approved. Anakin, I trust you will control yourself around Evelyn. And Evelyn, I trust you to do the same. Bickering is not becoming of Jedi."
The pair ducked their heads to hide the flushes of shame creeping onto their faces.
"Yes, Master Windu."
"Yes, sir. Master? What exactly are the criteria for our project? I'm terribly sorry, but I came in late-"
"Obviously."
"As you heard, the objective of this task is to learn to aid the Jedi and the Temple in the most beneficial way, targeted at each pairs particular talents. I hope," Mace looked pointedly at Anakin, "that the most beneficial choice has been made, but that remains to be seen."
Later that day, during the mid-day meal, Evelyn saw Anakin sitting alone at a deserted table, eating his lunch slowly, obviously thinking hard about something. As she walked past him, something caught on her foot, and her tray of food almost went in her face as she was unable to catch herself without breaking an ankle. In a split second Anakin had lunged towards Eve, using the Force to catch her lunch and keep it on the tray, and catching her in his arms, less than a foot away from the hard stone floor. Her nose would've smashed if he hadn't caught her.
Evelyn was pulled gently to her feet, and was handed the tray almost instantly. She looked into Anakin's startlingly blue eyes, and smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Anakin." His smirk came back- the one that drove her mad sometimes. His tone was not playfully teasing. It was a provocative taunt. "Be more careful next time. Clumsy idiot." She stood still for a second, mouth a little agape, and in the next second, a whipped cream pie was hurled into his face, which then slid down onto his chest, revealing a shocked then outraged glare. Eve gaped for a moment. She hadn't done that… so who did?
A Padawan, from the looks of it, from a few tables away was leering at Anakin. His tray was missing the pie.
"Hey, Skywalker! I think that look suits you. Did you like the pie? I'm afraid it wasn't to my taste."
Indignation bubbled up within Evelyn. She reached behind her and undid the scarf that bound her hair and handed it to Anakin, who took it and wiped his face off. Eve reached out to the Force and released her anger. Then grabbing her pie with the Force, she slammed it into the offending boy's face. The pie slid off, leaving his face covered in cream. The Padawan was not amused. In retaliation, he hurled a Besnian sausage that hit Eve directly in the eye. Instantly, her eye felt consumed by fire.
"AH! My eye!"
The burning was becoming more intense, and tears were rolling down her cheeks while she clutched at her eye. She could barely see Anakin move between her and the other boy. Anakin and the other boy traded insults, and within seconds, the air was filled with food. Eve attempted to block out the noise and flying things around her. Slowly, she gathered the Force around her, forcing the hot sauce out of her eye bit by bit. Her senses became sharp and clear with the Force, and she could sense a poached ice-fish hurtling through the air towards Anakin's head. With a cry, she jumped to her feet and hurled her now-empty tray as hard as she could towards the dangerous object, and knocked it off it's path with a loud crack. Ice exploded all over the floor.
"FREEZE!"
The commanding voice of Master Mace Windu rang out over every ding, crash, or bang. Everybody was instantly as frozen as the former ice-fish.
Needless to say, each and every Padawan and trainee had to clean up the mess until every surface shined. However, once the pupils were dismissed, Anakin and Evelyn walked out together… A tiny bond of friendship surfacing between two very different Jedi.