Lord Darth Yoda - She's certainly not Tyra - Tyra was always a bit more mature and seasoned then Sascha (which makes sense as she's been a Padawan for a while now). Nara and Sascha are just sort of coming into their own, which makes them more natural partners...it also means that I don't have to write a love story...which is nice. Nara's certainly Ahsoka-esque in the snark department - which makes her fun to write, but we'll also delve into her complexities as well - she gets a really fun backstory in this book - the chapters where they are explored are probably my favourite of anything I've done.

thejoker122- re: crystals - It's certainly one of those 'mystical things' - there is a good episode of Clone Wars about it in season 5 that deals with that. There's also a throwaway line about a technique that allows a Jedi to attune themselves to a crystal...which is never elaborated upon, so I dunno. Also yay, glad to hear that your story is coming along - though winter seems an awful long way away - but if you want someone to edit, just let me know.

SpeechbubbleMe - I actually think I made Sascha's depression go on for a bit too long, but I really didn't want to make it seem inconsequential either. Tough one to balance, but I think I strayed on sticking with this storyline for a bit too long. I enjoy writing Nara, she's kind of a spunky goof at this point, but like an onion (or an ogre) she has layers (please tell me you get this reference, otherwise it's going to look super weird). And speaking of wanting more - I demand more chapters from your fic! MOAR!

A/N - Publishing early because I'm going to a baseball game, so ya'll get an early dose tonight

Anyways, please enjoy the next chapter!

Chapter 10: Role Reversal

"By the Force, I'm terrible, aren't I?"

Nara Nalto, clad in her beige robe, smirked at him, "Well, lets not go that far…but this hasn't exactly been your finest moment."

Sascha and Nara were sparring the day after their conversation. And suffice to say the session wasn't exactly going well for him. He was sweating so much it felt like he was sparring in the middle of the Tatooine desert. Nara, on the other hand, had a light sheen of sweat on her skin, and was bouncing lightly on her feet, looking as if this sparring session was the most fun that she'd had all week.

In fairness, she was winning.

Perhaps more fairly, Sascha was just losing.

His timing was off, his footwork was sloppy, and he seemed to be moving in glacially slow-motion. He was pretty sure that Nara was taking it easy on him, but the fact that he couldn't tell if that was actually the case was disconcerting. He'd never exactly been the greatest fighter, but he'd usually put in a good account of himself and make his opponent work to beat him. Today, Nara could have probably beat him with one arm tied behind her back. Which was...embarrassing.

Sascha decided that he'd had enough, and he took a knee, disengaging his lightsaber and bowing to Nara in a smooth motion, "I'm done, Nara. Solah."

Nara bounced up and down in an exaggerated gesture of celebration, "That's five wins in a row for me, Sascha. You gotta shape up soon, or I won't be able to spar with you anymore because I just outclass you so badly."

Sascha smiled, "Maybe that's for the best, you're the only person that I regularly spar with that beats me up when I spar with them." Nara was physical when sparring and in this session she had battered the out of practice Padawan with a barrage of precise kicks. He had enough trouble dealing with the lightning fast Togruta's lightsaber, but when she added in her kicks, it was a difficult combination to defeat. Nara had certainly taken it slightly easy on him today in that regard, he could only remember taking a couple of kicks from the Togruta, but when they landed, they had stung. "Don't get ahead of yourself, little Togruta, I still have lots I can teach you. Just let me get back in shape first"

Nara slapped his back good-naturedly, "I know, I gotta rub in my victories though, otherwise you'll have no incentive to beat me."

"Please Nara, on the day I beat you I'm retiring from sparring with you. Though at this rate, I may never beat you."

Nara grinned, "I'm sure you'll get lucky…eventually." The Togruta sat down and withdrew a datapad that had recorded their sparring session, "Come on, let's analyze what we did wrong."

He groaned, "You sure that we can get through all of my mistakes in one day?"

"Only if we get started right now," replied Nara earnestly.

He hesitated and then leaned over Nara's shoulder so that he could see the datapad clearly, "Then lets get started."

The two Jedi spent a good hour analyzing their mistakes and correcting some of the flaws that they spotted in each others technique. They spent most of the time focusing on him, but Nara wasn't exactly perfect either. Her biggest problem was that she would let her aggressiveness get her into positions where a better opponent could take advantage of her being out of position. His problem was…well he didn't have an advantage over Nara in any specific area. He was somewhat stronger than her, but it was hard to use his physical strength to his advantage during a lightsaber duel. Nara's footwork used to be even worse than his, but now they were about even in that regard.

The pair headed back to the section of the Temple that housed the vast majority of the Jedi that were currently in residence. While the Jedi Order had more than 10,000 members, it only tended to house a fraction of that number at any given time. Still the Temple could house all of them, if they would go through the bother of fixing up the rooms that had been left untouched for hundreds of years. Somehow, Sascha doubted that particular problem was high up on the priority list.

Nara and Sascha didn't live far from each other, as Padawans their rooms were quite small, just room for their bedroll, a small computer terminal and minimal space for their possessions like their clothes and assorted other belongings. Sascha had never minded and he'd never heard Nara complain about it either. To be honest, it was easier to maintain the ascetic life of a Jedi when you didn't have room to put things.

Sascha glanced down at his datapad and read a message, "Looks like our Masters will be back at the Temple tomorrow." Aurine's message had been short and to the point, but he was glad to see that she was still keeping him informed. Next up would be the harder step, apologizing as profusely as possible and resuming his training with her.

"Good," replied Nara, heading to her door, which had the insignia for her home planet, Shili, inscribed onto it, "I'm tired of being a Padawan in the Temple without a Master. I just want to go on another mission as soon as possible." Nara turned and offered him a shallow bow, "Thanks for the sparring session, see you when our Masters return?"

"Wait. Nara, we should talk."

The Togruta looked confused, "I thought we already dealt with what was bothering you last night?"

Sascha shook his head, "I don't want to talk about my problems. I want to talk about yours."

Nara's eyes registered shock for a brief second, "I don't have any problems, thank you," she replied curtly.

Sascha sighed and waited until Nara opened her door, and then just barged right past her and into her room, much as she had yesterday. The only difference between their two rooms was the temperature, Shili was a warm planet and Togruta liked the heat, whereas Sascha, being born on Sluis Van was much more partial to cool temperatures. Being human was probably also part of it.

Nara was not amused by what he had just done, "Sascha, get out of my room before I toss you out. You know I can do it."

Sascha continued to sit in the middle of her room not moving a muscle, "Toss me if you want Nara, but I know you won't. You want to talk to me."

Nara marched towards him a threatening expression on her face, but Sascha stood, or rather sat his ground, looking up at her expectantly. Instead of picking him up and tossing him through the doorway, like she had threatened, the aggression in her posture dissipated all at once, "Okay, we'll talk, but…will you lay next to me? I like being physically close to people…it's a Togruta thing." Nara quietly lay down fairly close to him, kicking her boots off as she did so.

Sascha hesitated for a moment, then shucked his boots off as well. It was a bit...odd to be laying so close with Nara, but at the same time it didn't really seem particularly intimate either. It was just two people being physically close to each other, not signifying anything. "So, laying close to each other, that's a Togruta thing?"

Nara stared at the ceiling, "Yeah." She turned her head to him, "Do you know much about Togruta culture?"

"I know some things, but I'm not quite sure what you are referring to."

"I'll play the role of teacher then. Togruta are a communal people, in our ancestral past we had to work together to fend off the larger predators on Shili. Togruta are pack hunters, and we lived and worked closely with our pack mates." Nara sighed, "I would have been a terrible pack mate. I'm better at pushing people away than I am to getting close to them. But I want to change that – and part of that is I have to let people get close to me."

"I understand the sentiment, but I don't think that has anything to do with physical closeness."

"Maybe I just laying close to a boy then," Nara remarked sarcastically.

"Nara, you don't have to be so defensive, I'm your friend."

The Togruta cringed, "Sorry, old habit."

"It's okay," he said comfortingly. The two were silent for a long moment. "This is nice," he said, "Though I would like some sort of pillow or back support." The ground was made of stone, and while it was heated to a pleasing temperature it was still stone. Still, this was a nice, almost tender moment he was sharing with Nara.

"For me, I have trouble letting people in and getting to know me. I've been pushing people away for so long that I do it just by reflex now."

"Well I won't be pushed away," he said honestly.

"Thanks, my friend." Nara exhaled loudly, "How did you know I wanted to talk?"

"Seriously? We meditated together yesterday, and I could tell there was something off about you. I'm…good at making emotional connections with people, it's one of the few things I'm good at, so when I sat down last night and thought about what we did yesterday it became clear to me that you wanted a friendly face to talk to." He turned to face her, the Togruta was still staring at the ceiling, which Sascha noticed had a map of the galaxy engraved into it, "Nara, you should know I'm always there for you, why did you not talk to me?"

Nara squirmed briefly, "The…old me was selfish, I didn't want to harm your recovery by burdening you with my problems."

Sascha smiled faintly, "Thank you for thinking about me, but after that talk we had yesterday, I feel like I'm back to my old self. So spill it, what's bothering you?"

She sighed, "I feel like a fraud. I don't think I deserve to be a Padawan. I pushed myself so hard, ignored making friends to become what I thought was 'the best Padawan I could be,' and now that I am one …I don't know what I'm doing." The Togruta shook her head and for the first time Sascha could ever remember, she looked frail and unconfident.

"Nara, you won the apprentice tournament."

Nara cut him off, "I won because I'm strong in the Force and I'm good at combat, not because I'm a good Jedi. I was so close to washing out of the Jedi Order even with my talents, if I hadn't run into you and realized what an idiot I was being I…I don't know what I would have ended up becoming. I don't know if any Master would have wanted me as their apprentice."

"Nara, no one forced Master Tiplee to pick you. You were chosen by Master Tiplee because of your potential. None of us are the finished article when we are chosen, not me, not anyone." Sascha glanced away, "I actually had a similar conversation with Tyra when we were on Kuat together, I was on my first mission, Master Brynar had gotten hurt and I just felt so…lost, like all the training I got in the Temple was absolutely useless. Tyra said that the first few months of being a Padawan are the hardest of a Jedi's life. And having lived through mine, I totally agree."

The Togruta didn't seem to be convinced, "That's the thing though Sascha, I discarded everything in my quest to make sure I got picked to be a Padawan, no friends, no hobbies, just putting 100% effort into becoming what I thought would have been the perfect Padawan. I have more skills than you can shake a stick at; I've spent long hours searching up obscure Force abilities so I could learn them. And you know what? All of that was wasted time! I should have made friends, made connections, learned how to interact with people, because being a Jedi is not about learning how to lift rocks, it's about helping people! How can you help someone if you don't know how to talk to them?"

"Nara, you're not exactly socially awkward, and you have friends, you have me, Doro, Trigg and Tyra. You'll make more friends, you just have to give it time." Sascha laid a hand softly on her shoulder, "Whatever you did in the past is the past Nara, that's how I'm moving on from my past, I think you should join me…and I think we should start with getting you some new clothes."

Nara rolled over onto her side and stared at him in disbelief, "You must be joking. New clothes?"

"I'm not joking," he said seriously. "After I got my Padawan braid, after you braided it for me, I got new clothes befitting my new rank, but you never did, you kept your old Initiates robe with the sleeves cut short. It's a symbolic thing, but my new clothes indicated my new status. You have been stuck in the mindset that you are still an Initiate, because you don't think you deserve to be a Padawan, so you kept your old robes. You should get new ones…or wear some traditional Togruta clothing, I know you can't enjoy wearing heavy robes in this heat."

Nara sat up and stared at her beige robe for a long time. "How is it that you are so perceptive Sascha?"

"It's mostly just lucky guesses," he said modestly.

"I really feel like ripping this robe right off me, I can't believe that I didn't see something so obvious."

Sascha blushed, "If you are going to do something that crazy let me leave first, I don't want any wild rumours started about me."

The Togruta shoved him lightly, "Please, I know you're the most prudish Padawan in the Temple, you'd probably faint if I took off my outer tunic."

Sascha felt himself blushing a deeper shade of red, but had enough control to turn the conversation back to something more serious. "We can save the new outfit for later. But we were talking about your problems."

Nara's shoulders slumped, but she didn't seem as defeated or frail as she did earlier, "I hate to admit it, but I'm more than a little jealous of you."

"Jealous of me?"

Sascha started laughing uproariously, and Nara punched him hard in the shoulder, "Hey I didn't laugh at your problems."

Sascha corralled his outburst and returned his face to a neutral mien, "Sorry Nara."

The Togruta rolled her eyes at him, but spoke honestly, "I'm jealous of the connection you have with your Master. I've seen you two walking through the Temple, just laughing and smiling with each other. She's the perfect Master for you. But Master Tiplee and I can't seem to make that connection. I feel like I'm a piece of luggage that she just takes on her missions. I get to do the menial tasks while she does the main part of the mission, and then half the time I find out later that I didn't interpret her instructions correctly. And in this last mission she got, she didn't even take me!" Nara clenched her fists in obvious frustration, "I don't know, certainly I learn a lot from Master Tiplee, but I'm not even sure why she chose me to be her apprentice."

There was a lot to unpack in Nara's statement, thought Sascha. "Have you said anything to Master Tiplee?"

Nara snorted, "Yeah that sounds like a fun conversation, 'Master I don't think you appreciate me enough, and I'd like it if we were friendlier. Also, please tell me the top five reasons why you picked me to be your apprentice.'"

Sascha shrugged, "I don't see what is wrong with being so forward. Remember she usually works with her twin sister, and she gave up that partnership to take you as her apprentice. But she's used to working with someone that understands her intuitively, and I think if you said that her style of teaching isn't working for you, she'll be receptive to that."

Nara leaned back, "And you think that will work?"

He shrugged, "I don't know if it will work, but its better than just hoping it will magically fix itself. Remember just because she's a Jedi Knight, it doesn't mean she is omniscient. A Master and Padawan partnership is just that…a partnership – it can only work if both people buy into it and are honest with the other."

"I…never thought of it like that. I just sort of assumed that she knew how I was feeling."

"Remember, she's a Jedi Knight, not a mind reader."

Nara nodded slowly, "Fair point. But what if I have this conversation with her and it goes badly?"

Sascha cocked an eyebrow at her, "I believe that yesterday someone accused me of 'living in the world of hypotheticals.' I believe the same now applies to you, Nara."

Nara grinned slightly, "You know I hate when my words get used against me."

"Sorry, but it is a good way to win an argument."

"I hate losing arguments too."

"Sorry, you'll have to get used to that one," he replied with a smirk.

The Togruta laughed softly, "Okay. I'll try not to be a sore loser. And I'll talk with Master Tiplee when she gets back."

He nodded, "I think that it will work out for the best, Nara."

Nara kept silent for a few moments, but Sascha could tell that she had more to say, so he simply laid silently beside her and waited. Eventually Nara broke her silence, "Can I say the other reason I'm jealous of you?"

"I can see how you'd be jealous of my startling good looks."

Nara tried to supress her laughter but she failed, while he grinned good-naturedly. While he didn't think of himself as ugly, he knew that he pretty much belonged to the definition of average. Which was fine by him anyway.

When Nara recovered, she said, "I'm actually jealous of what you've accomplished so far in your career. You've been on the Holonet. You saved a whole planet. I on the other hand have done less than a Dug on a hot day. I've been beside my Master during some trade disputes; I helped escort some criminals to Coruscant, I've helped out the Judicials on some investigations, but that's it. That is all I've accomplished," Nara said, folding her arms across her chest.

"You make it sound like I'm a conquering hero," he said. "You do realize that I ended up in Hospitals after both of my missions, right?"

Nara stuck her tongue out at him, "Yeah but you got to do things that were important. I haven't done anything of note. I don't think I'll ever be trusted with anything important," she pouted.

"My first mission started out as guarding a Senator and my second mission started with an investigation of stolen artefacts on Bothawui, they just evolved into something different. It is not as if the Council thinks that I am more ready than you are for important missions, my missions just got crazy while yours were normal. I've had enough of crazy missions, I'll take your boring missions and you can have my crazy ones, deal?"

"I'm not sure it works like that, Sascha."

"Oh. Well, let's just say that I have faith that your accomplishments will come, Nara. You have a long career ahead of you. Just be patient, the accolades will come."

Nara nodded emphatically, "They will, won't they?"

Sascha slung an arm around her, and Nara smiled and leaned against it, "They will come if the Force wills it. And the Force is strong with you, Nara Nalto."

Sascha removed his arm, and Nara stood, "That was a helpful conversation, Sascha. I don't know if I can fix everything at once, but I can work at it." Nara's enthusiasm seemed to be back, which he took as a good sign. Nara started towards the door, "I'm going to pick out some new clothes, want to come along?"

"I'm about the least fashion conscious Jedi in the Temple, but...I'll do anything for a friend."

The next day Sascha was completing his morning routine when he heard Nara knock on his door. He rose and opened the door. Nara's new clothes had arrived, and she struck a glamorous pose so that he could see them in all their glory. She was dressed in a grey Jedi robe, it was a lighter shade than his own but it was cut far more stylishly than his robe, for example instead of Sascha's practical belt, she had opted for a tasteful gray and black obi that cut across her waist.

The Togruta definitely looked older and more mature with these new clothes than she previously did. Still he couldn't resist the easy joke, "Gray? I'm flattered you want to look like me…"

Nara shoved him playfully, and he stumbled backwards, "Gray happens to go well with my purple colouring."

"Sure, that's a good excuse…"

This time Nara swatted him hard in the chest with an open palm, "Ow. I'm going to end up purple if you keep hitting me," Sascha joked, "Though why did you go with a robe? Other Togruta tend to wear tighter clothing, more traditional Togruta inspired fashion."

Nara placed her hands on her hips, "Oh, I guess you wanted to see me in a tank top and skirt? Was that the kind of fashion that you wanted to see me in?"

Sascha blushed and stammered, searching for a good response.

She smiled at his obvious discomfort, "It's so easy to make you blush Whitestar, but don't worry I have a good reason for sticking with traditional Jedi clothing, If I'm going to be a Jedi, I'm going to dress like a Jedi. At least when I am dressed like this no one will confuse me for a youngling that stole a lightsaber."

"All that matters is that you are happy with it," he said, finally managed to find reasonable words to say.

Nara grinned, "I'm happy with it. See you when our Masters get back tomorrow?"

"You know it, Nara."