A/N: Are y'all getting tired of me posting these little, pointless things? I'm trying really hard to keep up with the Fictober Challenge, because it makes me feel good to write something every day. This prompt was for Day 12: Destiny.
Seeds
The Jedi didn't believe in family ties, yet they placed a great emphasis on raising up future generations. Each master took great pride in teaching younglings and molding their own padawans into capable and compassionate beings.
They also found great delight in providing their padawans with the opportunity to take charge of teaching a youngling for a day, to listen in smug satisfaction as the padawans would return exhausted at the end of the day, inevitably saying, "Master, teaching is hard." Even so, some padawans flourished in the assignment, showing their natural abilities as teachers. Other padawans…needed more time to develop those skills.
"This is the stupidest thing I have ever done."
Anakin Skywalker frowned at the mouthy youngling next to him, but he didn't disagree. "You shouldn't say things like that."
"Why?"
"Because." He didn't have a real answer, but he felt he should try and say something wise. "Meditation is important. It helps Jedi find balance."
"I don't know what that means," the teal-eyed boy said with a scoff, "but I don't wanna do it, and I don't think you do, either."
"If you want to be a Jedi Knight someday you will," Anakin said through clenched teeth. He was embarrassed that he, a sixteen year old padawan, had been figured out by this youngling who was what, maybe six? "Just focus."
"Ugh!" The boy, little Caleb Dume, flopped on his back with a dramatic sigh. "It's too quiet in here. Can't we go somewhere more exciting?"
They were meditating in the Room of a Thousand Fountains because Anakin thought that maybe the stunning serenity would be the perfect environment, that maybe he'd finally be able to focus the way his master had always wanted him to. He wasn't having much luck, but he figured he should at least try to teach the youngling something. He wracked his brain for the most Obi-Wan thing he could think of. "A Jedi doesn't crave excitement."
"Says you!"
"Says everyone, now hush."
That was something Caleb could not and would not do. He crawled next to one of the deeper fountains, teetering on the edge as Anakin looked on in only mild concern. Caleb glanced back, wagging angular eyebrows.
"Aren't you gonna tell me to stop?"
"Why?" Anakin rolled his eyes. "You know you shouldn't be doing it anyway. What's it to me if you drown?"
The youngling dropped flat and then rolled across the floor to Anakin. "Is it true that Master Kenobi fought a Sith Lord?"
"Not just fought him," the teen answered proudly, "killed him too."
"No way." Little Caleb gnawed his lip for a moment, then he sat up, mirroring Anakin's cross-legged pose. "Padawan Skywalker, I have a question."
"What now?"
The little boy looked at the older with earnest eyes. "What makes some people Siths and some people Jedis? Master Ti says there is a little seed of goodness inside every living being, if only you know where to look for it. And she says that the Force controls all destinies. So if that's true, then how come some people are Siths? Was their destiny always to be bad, or did they just not find the goodness inside 'em? And how do we know if it's really our destiny to be Jedi? Huh?"
"Uhhhh…" Anakin gaped at the small child, trying to wrap his mind around the enormity of the questions he'd been asked. He didn't know what to say; for one thing, he did not believe that every being had goodness inside of them. Living nine years as a slave had taught him that simply wasn't true. But he didn't want to be responsible for disillusioning this youngling at such a tender age. "Well," he ventured slowly, "I think maybe the goodness is buried deeper inside some people than others—so deep they never find it."
Caleb Dume accepted this with a nod. "That's sad," he commented.
"It is. As for us and our destiny as Jedi…" Anakin trailed off, considering his answer. It was something he'd wondered about many times himself. "I guess—I guess that if we're destined to be Jedi, we will be, and if we're not, then we should trust our training anyway and hope that we'll know the right path to take when the time comes."
"Huh." The youngling looked him dead in the eye. "You made all that stuff up, didn't you?"
Anakin nearly came unglued. "Would you just—"
A gravelly laugh came from behind them. "To Padawan Skywalker you should listen, young Caleb Dume. A better answer to such questions, no master could have given."
Caleb looked skeptical, but he bowed his head. "Yes, Master Yoda."
The ancient Jedi Master had a trace of mirth in his eyes. "To the dining hall go before miss your supper you do."
"Yes, master," the two noys said in unison. Anakin stood up, shoving Caleb along. Yoda halted the padawan with an outstretched hand.
"A fine teacher you will make one day, Anakin Skywalker, if continue to grow in wisdom you do."
Anakin beamed at Yoda's praise even as he cringed at the idea of having to put up with a padawan of his own. "Thank you, master," he said with a grin, "Although I hope that day is a long time in coming."
The master's eyes drifted to the back of the room where Luminara Unduli held a chattering Togruta youngling by the hand. "Perhaps." Yoda smiled gently. "Know the right path you will, when right the time is."