AN: I just want to say thank you to everybody who's followed or favorited or reviewed or even just read this far. Without your support, I doubt I would have made it this far before losing interest.
Also, this story is now closing in on both 150 follows and 100 reviews, which is absolutely amazing. You guys are the best.
Chapter 12: A Light
The children turned ten, and Obi-Wan decided that they had learned enough to graduate beyond initiate, into Padawans. The rank wouldn't change as much in their lives as it traditionally did, but it still felt worthwhile to mark the transition with something out of the ordinary.
Giving them proper lightsabers would be the obvious choice, if he had them, but he still wasn't sure how to solve that problem. He only had one crystal, given to him by Yoda before they went into exile, and no way of getting another.
The next time Mara was over at the Lars farm and he was alone, he decided to take out the crystal. Maybe it was large enough to split into two.
Halfway through unpacking the trunk down to the bottom, his hand closed around a lightsaber, and he froze. He had forgotten about this. Slowly, he drew it out and looked at it. Anakin's lightsaber. He wasn't even sure why he had it.
The thought crossed his mind that this could be the solution to his problem, but he dismissed it. Even if he could figure out how to give a full lightsaber to one child and just a crystal to the other without any feelings of inequality, he wouldn't do it. He couldn't justify presenting an innocent child with a weapon still covered in Mustafar's ash. The symbolism could hardly be worse, and these children would carry enough marks from that day as it was.
He was about to put the lightsaber down when another thought caught him. He flipped the hilt over and opened the maintance panel. There lay the heart of the sword, the crystal.
For an instant, he hesitated. In the Temple, there was no such thing as reusing a crystal, no such thing as removing it from its casing, no matter what the reason. A crystal was never part of more than one weapon.
But that would be rediculous here. This wasn't the Temple anymore, and he didn't have a choice. Releasing his reluctance, he tugged the power connectors loose, and then carefully slid the crystal out of its slot. He closed up the panel on the lightsaber, put the hilt aside, and, carefully holding the crystal, used his free hand to dig through the chest until he found the little ball that could only be opened with the Force. Reaching out with his mind, he opened it, placed the blue crystal alongside the green one, and fitted the sides back together.
Finally, he had a solution. He just needed the other parts, and they wouldn't be hard to find.
When he'd gathered everything they might need and hidden it all in the trunk, he knew it was time to introduce the idea to the children. The next day, as soon as Luke got there, he sat them both down on the floor, and placed the bag containing all the parts he'd found in front of them.
Mara smiled. "So, are you finally going to tell us what you've been planning?"
He glanced at her, surprised she'd noticed anything. "Who said I've been planning anything?"
She looked at him disbelievingly. "You've been into town almost every day for the last week. We're not stupid, we know something's up."
Luke was bouncing slightly. "So will you tell us what it is yet?"
Obi-Wan smiled. "I suppose I can't hide this nearly as well as thought I could. Very well. Sit still for a moment, young one, and I'll tell you."
With some difficulty, Luke stopped bouncing. Obi-Wan tried to assume a dignified expression, even though his thunder had been rather stolen.
"You have now learned everything required of an Initiate. It is time for you to become Padawans. To prove you are ready, I charge you to create a lightsaber for yourself, as has been done by Padawans since the beginning of our order."
Their eyes shone, and Mara asked in an awed tone "Really, Master?"
"Really, child. Now, tradition would have you choosing your own crystals, from the Caves of Illium. I wish that was possible. Instead, I have only two crystals, one blue and one green. You will have to settle between yourselves which goes to which."
They glanced at each other, and looked back at Obi-Wan. "I want the blue," Luke said, and simultaneously Mara said "Green, please."
Obi-Wan smiled, held out the container and opened it with the Force. "Be careful with them. We have no replacements."
They reached out and took their crystals, and looked up. "So how do we start?" Mara asked.
It took some days. They were fast at catching on, but he hadn't gone into detail on the workings of lightsabers before now, and they'd never seen any of the parts in person before. He had to teach them everything the Temple Initiates would already know perfectly before they could even get started.
At last, though, they had a lightsaber apiece. Simple ones, lacking bells and whistles, but they would get the job done. They did have a safety setting, he'd made sure of that, so they would be hardly more dangerous than the metal poles to spar with.
When Mara's was finished, two hours after Luke's was, he scanned over it with the Force to make sure everything was in alignment, and handed it back. "Congratulations, young ones. You've done well."
Luke dropped his homework and came over. "So now do we get one of those equipment belts you've mentioned, to wear these?"
"I don't have any, unfortunately. Even if I did, you can't wear your blades. Someone could see."
Luke looked disappointed, but Mara cocked her head, looking thoughtful. "What if we kept them hidden? Maybe tied around our arms, so our sleeves covered them up?
Obi-Wan frowned. It could work, he had to admit. "If you can figure out how to do that, I don't have any objections." He shrugged, and assumed his dignified expression. "We will hold your official Padawan ceremonies first thing tomorrow, in the cave. You should spend time meditating in preperation."
The children did their best to look solemn and stand still, as Obi-Wan stood in front of them, their new lightsabers held high in his right hand. "With these lightsabers, you take on the role of protector and defender. They will be your shield and your guiding light, even as you become shield and the guide to those around. Let them serve as a reminder of your training and the burden you take on as a Padawan of the Jed Order." He brought his right hand down, transferred one of the lightsabers to his left, and held both out in front of him. They accepted them.
"It is the custom of the Jedi order now to braid the hair of the Padawan, as a symbol of the Padawan's tie to the Jedi Order and to his master. In these times, however, it would be dangerous to give you the traditional hairstyle of the Padawan. Substitutes are needed."
He moved over and looked Mara in the eyes. "Your hair I can braid, in such a way that it does not appear similar to the traditional braid." He stepped around so he was standing beside her, and took a clump of her hair from up near the part, braided it, and tied it off. She reached up to touch it, and smiled slightly.
Obi-Wan walked over to stand in front of Luke. "Your hair I cannot braid," he said.
"Instead I give you this." He brought out a strip of leather. "Hold out your hand."
Luke complied, and Obi-Wan wrapped the cord around and braided it, tucking the ends under so it looked like an unbroken band when he was done. He stepped back.
"With these lightsabers and these braids, you have become Padawans of the Jedi Order. Learn your lessons well, and live by the Code at all times."
He nodded to them, and they joined him in reciting the code he had taught them, standing straight and tall and taking pride in the words.
When they finished, they stood there awkwardly for a moment, then Luke broke out in a smile. "Do we get to try sparring with lightsabers now?"
"Not until after we've gone over all the katas with the new weapon. Always test a weapon before you trust it."
"Master?" Mara asked, fingering her braid. "Have you ever done this before? Trained someone, I mean."
"Why do you ask?"
She shrugged. "Just curious. Have you?"
Obi-Wan frowned. He had planned to discuss this, but was now the ideal time? Well, it was probably better to go over this sooner rather than later. "I have. I once trained Luke's father."
"What?"
"Luke's father was a Jedi?"
"No, he was a navigator on a spice freighter," Luke said. "Wasn't he?"
"He was, for a time. Jedi must be adaptable, willing to take on any job for the sake of a mission."
"But he was a Jedi, really? Why didn't Uncle Owen tell me?"
"He was a Jedi. Your uncle kept that from you to keep you safe, until you were old enough."
Luke looked terribly conflicted. "But I would have wanted to know."
"This bothers you, doesn't it? Meditate on it, first chance you have."
He frowned at that, but nodded. Obi-Wan decided he must be remarkably upset, if he wasn't even protesting the meditation assignment. Well, he'd probably have time to sort it out soon.
"So what happened to Luke's father? Was he killed in the Purges?"
Obi-Wan turned to the girl, wishing more than anything that he could put off this decision. Still, at least it wasn't a hard one. No matter what guilt he felt over it, he couldn't burden such a young innocent boy with the full truth. He bowed his head. "He was lost in that time with the rest of the Order."
"Can you tell us stories about him?" Luke still looked subdued, but at least he was springing back.
"Perhaps. Don't you want to try your lightsabers first, though?"
They grinned, and scurried into position, eager to try their new toys.
