DISCLAIMER: I don't own Star Wars or Jedi Apprentice. Nor do I own Skillet. Dammit...
)()()()()()()(
I remember when
We used to laugh
About nothing at all
It was better than going mad
From trying to solve all the problems we're going through
Forget 'em all
Cause on those nights we would stand and never fall
Together we faced it all
Garen was startled out of his meditation by the feeling of an approaching presence that virtually radiated discontentment through the Force. He looked up as his best friend flopped down beside him. "What's wrong?"
Obi-Wan sighed and stared into the dimness of the Room of a Thousand Fountains. "What is it about me that the Masters don't like, Garen? Why won't any of them accept me?"
Garen sighed. He knew all too well about his best friend's anxieties surrounding his lack of a Master and his rapidly-approaching thirteenth birthday. "I don't know, Obi-Wan... But one's got to be bound to smarten up and see you'd be an amazing Padawan soon! I mean, the Order can't just lose you!"
"I wish I were as confident as you." Obi-Wan rested his chin on his knees and sighed. In the dim light, he looked more like a petulant child than a young Jedi student.
"C'mon, Kenobi. This is me we're talking about. When have I ever been wrong?" Garen draped an arm across his friend's shoulders and pasted the cheekiest, most annoying grin he could manage on his face. "Hmmm?"
Despite himself, Obi-Wan laughed. "Do you want a list of all those times?"
"Oh, pfft. I find your lack of faith disturbing, and therefore I must exact retribution." Garen licked his finger and aimed it at Obi-Wan's ear, evilly grinning all the while.
"ARGH! Garen!" Obi-Wan scooted away from his friend as fast as he could whilst batting the other Youngling's hand away. "That's disgusting!"
"Annnnd, your point?"
"Do I need to say anymore?" Obi-Wan, evidently coming to the conclusion that dodging the hand wasn't going to do anything, pounced on Garen and poked him in the ribs, eliciting an indignant yelp from the other Jedi.
Ten minutes later, two licked fingers in ears, several tickled ribs and multiple yowls from both boys ended with the two youths sprawled on the grass, staring up at the simulated star-filled sky. "Hey, Garen?" spoke Obi-Wan, turning his head slightly to look at his friend.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it." Garen grinned at his friend before looking back at the ceiling far above them, and slowly relaxing, confident that the Force would work everything out.
Remember when we'd
Stay up late and we'd talk all night
In a dark room lit by the TV light
Through all the hard times in my life
Those nights kept me alive
She was jolted out of a sound sleep by the ringing of her com link. Blinking the weariness out of her eyes, she answered the hail. "Taerich. Whad'ya want?"
"Zara?" The petite Jedi could hear the sound of Garen's voice. "Can you talk?"
"Garen?" Now wide awake, Zara sat up, pulling a robe over her sleep tunic before switching to visual on her com. She blinked at the sight of her friend huddled into a too-large robe, visibly trembling. He looked like a wreck, sporting a large black eye and several lacerations on his face and arms. "What-"
"There was a bomb. The rebels went aggressive and we didn't have any warning and-" The male Jedi tried to hold back his shock and grief at the events of the day. "So many dead..."
"Oh, Sith, Garen..." Zara closed her eyes, her heart aching to hug her friend and reassure him that everything would be fine. "Are you all right?"
"No... yes... I don't know. I was supposed to be aware of this and I failed and-"
"Shhh..." Zara brushed her hair out of her face, setting herself up for a long night of grief counselling. "It's not your fault, Garen. Are you somewhere safe? Where's your Master?"
"Master Rhara got hit by shrapnel and she's with the healers. Force, this is all my fault- I should've-"
"Shhh. Relax, Garen. I'll stay with you until you fall asleep, mmkay? Don't hang up."
"I... I won't, Za." Garen looked up at the hologram of his friend for perhaps the first time since he'd called. "Thanks."
"What else are friends for?"
We'd listen to the radio play all night
Didn't want to go home to another fight
Through all the hard times in my life
Those nights kept me alive
"Bant? You there?" The words were punctuated by incessant knocking on the door to Bant's quarters. The slender Mon Cal unfolded herself from her meditation position before going to the door and opening it, revealing a red-haired human woman. "Oh, thank the Force..."
"Zara? What happened?" Bant took her friend's arm and tugged her into the apartment. "You look like a wreck!"
"Yeah, I know..." Zara flopped down on the couch and hugged her knees to her chest before sniffling.
Ignoring the booted feet on her couch, Bant sat beside her friend and hugged her close. "What's wrong?"
"Daran kriffin' Kaol is what's wrong! Why are men such idiots, Bant?" Zara leaned against her friend's shoulder and tried to blink back the tears.
Bant immediately understood. Daran Kaol, a Knight a couple of years older than herself and Zara, had appeared to be expressing interest in the pretty red-haired Jedi. Despite the warnings of her friends, Zara had been flattered enough by Daran to be swayed by his words. Evidently that had lead to her heart being trampled this evening.
"Shhh... He doesn't deserve you. He's an arse- as are most men. Shh..." Bant hugged Zara close and let the human cry out her grief and anger on her shoulder.
Zara finally managed to regain control of her emotions. "What do I do, Bant? Now I look like an idiot to every other Knight in the Temple!"
Bant thought for a moment. "First, we load you up on chocolate to get the hormones all straightened out. Then we..." The normally-mild and polite Mon Cal went on to describe a plan of sisterly revenge for her friend's heartbreak. A slow, evil grin started to appear on Zara's face as the plan was outlined.
When Knight Kaol just so happened to be smitten with a high-strength laxative in his food later that week and have to run out of the dining hall in the middle of a crowded mealtime to deal with the after-effects of said laxative, the more observant Jedi may have noticed Knight Eerin and Knight Taerich exchange an evil grin between each other.
I remember when
We used to drive
Anywhere but here
As long as we'd forget our lives
We were so young and confused that we didn't know
To laugh or cry
Those nights were ours
They will live and never die
Together we'd stand forever
It was the anniversary of Tahl's death. Even though the blind Jedi had passed into the Force years ago, and Bant had eventually come to accept her first Master's death, the grief was still present and made itself known every year on this day. The young Knight had found no success in meditating away the hurt, and had spent the better part of two hours looking through old memorabilia of their time together. She paused when she found one holographic image of herself and Tahl, cheekily grinning in the general direction of the camera and leaning on each other's shoulders. Bant sniffled, determined to not the tears fall again. She was a Jedi, and she was to have accepted her former teacher's passing. But Force, it hurt-
"Bant?" The door slid open, to reveal Reeft. "C'mon."
Quickly wiping a hand across her eyes, Bant stood and eyed her friend in confusion. "What's going on?"
"As your friend, it's my job to not let you mope the day away, Eerin. Now c'mon, it's a beautiful day for a drive! Grab your robe, let's go, and no you don't get a choice." Reeft leaned on the door frame, watching his friend. "Ned and I are waiting!"
Despite herself, Bant giggled. "I can't believe you named your speeder Ned. NED!" Closing the lid on her box of memories, she rose, grabbing her robe and following her friend out.
"Come on! Ned's a great name!" Reeft laughed as he led her through the Temple and to his speeder, a dark green 'piece of junk' as Obi-Wan had described it. "And he's trustworthy and reliable and-"
"Ugly as heck!" laughed Bant as she seated herself. As Reeft drove the speeder away from the Temple, she looked over at him. "Reeft?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks. I needed this."
"You're welcome!"
Remember when we'd
Stay up late and we'd talk all night
In the dark only lit by the TV light
Through all the hard times in my life
Those nights kept me alive
The cantina was dim, and packed tightly with the bodies of assorted Coruscanti citizens. Obi-Wan paused for a moment to let his eyes adjust before slipping through the crowd to a small corner booth. Reaching across the bench, he tapped the booth's sole occupant on the shoulder. "You alive in there?"
"Regretfully, yes." Reeft numbly spun his bottle of juma around in his hand. "Why'd I have to fail?"
"Reeft, it wasn't your fault." Obi-Wan slid into the seat across from his friend and gently pulled the bottle away from him. "Drinking yourself into oblivion isn't going to bring those people back."
"But... it was children that died, Obi-Wan. Children! How am I supposed to deal with that?" Reeft stole the bottle back and took another drink of juma, blinking as the alcohol hit him.
"Some things, the Force has destined from the beginning, and there's nothing we can do about it. You did what you could- and you were the one who rescued most of the survivors, Reeft. That is nothing to be ashamed of."
"But... I should've done more..."
"There was nothing else you could have done- even the Council sees that. And how is giving yourself alcohol poisoning going to help anything?"
Reeft shrugged. "Hurts less." He lifted the bottle for another drink, only to discover that there was nothing left in the glass. With a sigh, he set the bottle back on the tabletop.
"And tomorrow, you're going to wake up with a massive hangover, which is going to add to the hurt you already feel. Let it go, Reeft- we're all here for you." Obi-Wan moved the bottle away from his friend's reach. "And we won't leave hangovers. C'mon, let's get you back to the Temple."
Reeft hesitated. "But..."
"C'mon! I brought Ned for you..."
"Lies. You wouldn't drive my speeder if you were paid to."
"That's untrue! I put my life on the line in your speeder for you, Reeft!" With a grunt, Obi-Wan managed to drag his friend out of the booth and to the exit. "See?" He pointed to the old, beat-up speeder, neatly parked with the other vehicles outside of the cantina.
Reeft blinked. "You did bring Ned."
"Have I lied to you yet, Reeft? Now sit down- PASSENGER side!- and I'll drive you back." Obi-Wan pushed his friend to the passenger side and made sure he was all buckled in before taking the driver's seat. "Although I still think Ned's ready for retirement..."
"Nonsense. 's a good speeder." Reeft settled down in the seat, watching Obi-Wan steer the vehicle into the steady flow of Coruscanti traffic after selecting a music channel to listen to. "Hey, Kenobi?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
Obi-Wan turned to answer Reeft, only to find his friend already falling asleep. With a grin, the human Jedi softly answered "Any time," as he drove back to the Temple.
Listen to the radio play all night
Didn't want to go home to another fight
Through all the hard times in my life
Those nights kept me alive
)()()()()()(
"Those Nights"
Skillet
Album: Comatose
2006 Atlantic Records
The story behind 'Ned': One of my dormmates last semester had a car named the Nedmobile, or Ned for short. The name stuck- and I liked it, which explains the name of Reeft's speeder.
I promise Castaway will be updated soon. TFINE? Maybe- depends on when Jedi Master Luthien and I find the muse again.
Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!
Xaja