Dinnertime finds Reimi, Fidel, and myself at a table near the entrance to the garden. We are surrounded by other students talking about the fights in the training room. A lot of people are talking to Reimi, and ignoring the fact that I was the one that did all the work. Not that I care. Now everybody in the temple will want a piece of me. I'm going to stay one step ahead of the competition if I want to keep the predators off of me, let only show any weakness.
On the other side of the cafeteria I see Fayt glaring at me. I give him a thumbs, and he glares daggers at me. I turn to see Fidel shaking his head at me. "Fayt is my rival. I'm going to return the favor for picking on Reimi." I said.
Fidel grimaced at the implications of what that meant, and then we both turned to look at Fayt. I mouthed, while pointing at him, I'm coming for you. Fayt's eyes got as big as a dessert saucer. I smile widely, and then return to dinner. I look over at Reimi who has the biggest smile on her face. I return the smile and we both return to our plates. I see Reimi eye me, but this eye contact was different than a few seconds ago. I feel a few stares, and I can sense the master's disapproval through the force. Not that I care. I'm going to toe a fine line with Reimi. I stop and think about it for a moment. I look at all the masters and I realize they're all single. I smile to myself, and decide how I'm going to court Reimi.
After dinner was evening meditation and I find my way out to the temple grounds. I can feel the masters eyeing me, and I see Reimi making her way over to me. I stop her short, and motion for her to keep her distance. I impress upon her, through the Force, we need to be careful with our interactions because the masters aren't happy with our closeness.
You think I care? Reimi asked.
Please tell me that's a rhetorical question. I say.
What? She asked.
I know you don't care. I say.
I feel irritation radiating off of Reimi. After evening meditation is over Reimi leaves before I can smooth things over. I roll my eyes and then head to my room. Before I could get to my room I was stopped by Fayt. "You think you can humiliate me out of sort of misguide vengeance you've got another thing coming." he said.
"You should have thought that through before acting like hut'uun." I said and then walked into my room. Fayt stood there stupefied by what just left my mouth. As I was shutting my door he was still standing there. I shook my head and shut my door in his face. Fayt finally regained his senses and walked away.
I grab some clothes and went to the bathroom to get a shower. Back home we had communal showers, whereas here, they have individual stalls. There were dispensers for soap, shampoo, and conditioner. After my shower, I put on fresh change of clothes and step out of the stall. I stop at the sink to brush my teeth, and after I was done I head back to my room. I put my clothes in the hamper so they can be washed, and then I crawl in bed and go to sleep. Come morning I dress and then head out to the main hall for morning meditation. I find Fidel waiting for me, whereas, Reimi is on the other side of the room and she's upset and unbalanced. I give her nudge through the Force and she glares at me. I wave to her, and she ignores me. "You're going to piss her off." Fidel warned.
"That's the plan." I say.
"You know that's dangerous." he said.
"I want her to be so cross with me that she can't see what's about to hit her. I don't believe the jedi have it right. No attachments, that's impossible." I counter.
"What do you mean?" Fidel asked.
"To go through life without growing close to somebody is impossible. You're drawn to me to the point that we're almost brothers." I say, pointing out our relationship.
"That's different." he said.
"Don't arguments semantics, Fidel. You know it's the same thing. We bond with all sorts of people and things." I say.
"So what are you saying, that a Jedi's life in a temple is meaningless?" he asked.
"The only way to get through life without succumbing to the dark side is to make peace with it. There's nothing else you can do." I say.
"I don't understand. That doesn't make any sense." he says.
"Trust me, if you want to live you're going to have to accept death. It a natural part of life." I finish in a whisper as meditation begins. I empty my mind and reach out with the Force. I feel Fidel next to me, frazzled by our conversation. I can feel Fayt next to the exit. His mind is erratic. How does he concentrate on anything? I think to myself. I feel Reimi on the other side of the hall. She doesn't shut me out, but she doesn't commune with me. That's okay. I think. Reimi will come to me when she's ready.
The hour for morning meditation is over and were on to morning chores. This morning's chores has me tending to live stock, or what they consider live stock. These are some strange looking creatures. I think.
Breakfast comes and Reimi joins Fidel and me, but she is content with conversing with other people at the table. I shake my head, but Reimi doesn't miss that I'm biting my lower lip before I start eating. Reimi doesn't know what to think. She knows that I favor her, but after I told her to keep her distance last night she doesn't where I stand with her. I'll explain it later. I say through the Force. Whatever. Reimi says.
I roll my eyes, but I don't look at her. Breakfast comes and goes, and then it's on to morning training session. I've been at the temple for a year, and I never noticed the outdoor obstacle course off of the training center. "You think you have what it takes?" I hear Theseus' voice from behind me.
"What do I have to do?" I ask.
"Make through within the allotted time, and you have a chance to finish the entire course. Which has not be completed by anyone, even Fayt." he says.
"Do me a favor, please. Don't mention that name, like ever." I say and then step up platform.
"You have fourteen minutes to complete the course. Theseus says. "Starting now."
The platform drops out from under my feet, and I landed in the water. I use the Force to enhance my abilities and I'm out of the pool and continuing on with the rest of the course. I'm in and out of rooms in seconds flat. Rooms that would have given people problems and forced them to take a few minutes to complete, I did it in one or two minute tops. I enter a room and I know Theseus changed the program. I look up to see Master Jyn standing next Theseus. I shake my head at the pair. I use my Force Sense to look for a solution. This room took me two minutes to complete. As I'm approaching the final door I hear Theseus come over the loud speaker. "You're about to enter a part of the course that few have gotten to, and even fewer have finished."
I don't even break my stride. I enter the next room, and I see a pillar in the center. At the top of the pillar a cage. I can't see the object in the cage, but I begin to work on figuring out a solution on how to get access to the cage. I look for a path and I find my way. I don't waste any time completing the puzzle. In mere seconds I'm climbing a hill that is twenty feet away from the pillar. When I look inside the cage I'm in shock to see a lightsaber. Whether it's functional or not is another story. I use my sense to look for a switch, which is right behind me. I'm guessing this switch is pressure sensitive, so I try to reach for the lightsaber in the Force, and I'm out of reach. I think of what my options are, and I realize that I'm going to have to do something insane, or suicidal to get the saber.
At this point I sense other people had begun to watch. I find Fidel and Reimi and the rest of the crowd cheering me on, while Fayt and his crew are either incensed or unimpressed. I looked over at Theseus and he shrugged his shoulders. I return my gaze to the pillar and notched gouge marks. I give a hollow laugh, and I figure out what I'm supposed to do.
"This is crazy." I say.
For the record, you about to do something extremely crazy, and extremely dangerous. I hear Fidel through the Force. Tell me about. I say back.
I step on the switch and wait for the cage to raise to its full height. Just as I step off the switch I draw on the Force to augment my speed, which slows the cage return to its resting position. Then I use the Force to augment my jump. When I was half way to the pillar I reach out with the Force and pulled the lightsaber to me. I flip the lightsaber over and active the weapon. I see a black blade come to life as I'm mere seconds from colliding with the pillar. It takes a few seconds for the lightsaber to slow my descent. When I finally stop I'm about twenty feet from the ground. I use the Force to slow my descent and drop the rest of the way. I admire the black blade, and then deactivate the weapon. I see an exit, and complete the course.
As I'm exiting I see Theseus flanked by the entire council. I know exactly what they're going to say, so I hand the lightsaber over to Theseus without a fight. "I'm going to want that back when I can carry a real lightsaber." I say.
"That won't be a problem." Master Megara said.
Theseus and the council leave without a backwards glance. I roll my eyes and then walk away. And as usual I'm surrounded by the rest of the students that are in awe of my abilities. I try not to come across as a jerk, I didn't run the course for their enjoyment, so I say "Thank you" a few times. I find Fidel and Reimi and we leave the Training Room together, but not before I give Fayt a thumbs up. We find our way into the garden. We head all the way to the far right corner in the back of the garden, which surprising, has a few trees blocking us from full view of the cafeteria entrance. We sit down under a tree, with Reimi leaning against me and then she falls asleep. My arm is in gap of her back between her shoulder blades. I raise my eyebrows at Fidel and he shakes his head.
"You really are going to drive Fayt mad, aren't you?" Fidel asked.
"I could care less." I say.
"Can you please at least act least like you care? I've seen students get kicked out of the academy for having the same demeanor. What's going to happen to her? None of the master's care, and Master Fyyar is grudgingly training Reimi. So take care how you interact with the rest of the student body." Fidel said.
I look at Reimi when Fidel implied that Reimi would be left out in the cold if I was banished from the academy. I reached out and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and I was in shock at the softness of her skin. I saw Reimi stir when I touched her, and I moved my hand away from her. Reimi murmured something in her sleep, but I couldn't make it out. Fidel and I continue to talk between ourselves for few hours, and then I rouse Reimi so we could go eat lunch. When Reimi looked me, she rolled her eyes and then got up to head to lunch.
"What was that about?" Fidel asked.
"Just let it be." I say.
"Did she forget that you let her lean against your arm and fall asleep?" he asked.
"I'll clear the air in the near future, so just go with it. Okay?" I ask.
"Whatever you say." Fidel said.
I get up off the ground, and offer my hand to Fidel. He took my hand, and I helped him to his feet. We head back to get lunch.